Water Water Everywhere

After a month of watching two states drown in water, the last thing I wanted to watch on screen was more people in water. Into the Blue starts off interestingly. A plane heads into a hurrican-ish storm and crashes off the Bahamas. Next scene: We meet Jared (Paul Walker) and his live-in love, Sam (Jessica Alba). Both have seaworld jobs in Florida. Bates (Josh Brolin), is a neighborly rival and a fellow seafarer and Jared's former employer. Having just bought a beaut of a boat, he teases Jared to come work for him again. Jared instead heads to the Bahamas as the guest of his best buddy and a newly found girlfriend.

There is lots of scuba diving scenes, lots of bodies swaying with the fish. The first 1/3 of the movie, had way too much choreographed swimming, diving, and playful water fights, it was more watching a travelogue for Florida and the Bahamas than a mystery as advertised. Where was the story? Eventually there was a bit of a storyline, but it came off as an updated "Sea Hunt". Remember Lloyd Bridges and Sea Hunt? Bridges made his fame as host of those water-world type TV shows and the only difference between what he did and "Into the Blue" is,
1) great choreographed diving stunts; 2) scenic underwater beauty; and 3) beautiful sun-kissed bodies in the way of Jessica Alba and Paul Walker.

What story there was in this low grade B movie was something about the characters haphazardly diving and finding an 18th century ship wrecked off the Caribbean and a plane full of drugs. The main protagonists were indecisive which was more important: robbing the drugs from the damaged plane and risk being caught as drug smugglers or claim the booty in the wrecked ship and risk being celebrated? This little difference of opinion caused death from shark bites, kidnaps and ransoms and slaughter aboard a drug king's yacht.

The acting was mediocre, because the writing was mediocre. No one would give credence to Alba and Walker as serious actors anyway. She was cute, giggly, and all over Walker, who looked like a California surfer.

The bigger problem is we don't care about the characters and their sea-hunt venture. The scriptwriting had no character personality development, and seemed written straight from movie outline software. What passed for suspense and mystery has been done over and over again to the point you see it coming a mile away.

-You know someone is going to get bit by a shark because they're swimming with sharks.

-You know someone is going to get killed and the hero, Jared (Walker) will not.
-You know there's a murderous drug dealer because of the cocaine in the plane wreck
-Since it's located in the Bahamas, you know there is going to be a dance hall & bar scene.

Into the Blue lacked a solid original idea and humor-- and a little humor would have taken it farther, but it floated flat in the water. If the director wants a job as a travelogue cinematographer, he would have a winner.