'Underwater' early reviews: Film sinks to the ocean floor and may have taken Kristen Stewart's career with it
The first horror thriller of 2020, 'Underwater', is a deep-sea affair starring Kristen Stewart and early reviews aren't exactly giving it five stars.
How's this for setting a tone? The 'Underwater' review by Deadline reads "Kristen Stewart Sinks Along With Everyone Else In This Blatant 'Alien' Pretender".
And most other Hollywood news and entertainment sites second the opinion. Rolling Stone's Peter Traves sums it up by calling it "a brazen carbon copy of Ridley Scott's 1979 sci-fi landmark."
Directed by William Eubank and written by Brian Duffield and Adam Cozad, the K-Stew starrer's official premise reads: "A crew of aquatic researchers work to get to safety after an earthquake devastates their subterranean laboratory. But the crew has more than the ocean seabed to fear."
Rotten Tomatoes has given it a 47% rating with its critic consensus reading: "Underwater's strong cast and stylish direction aren't enough to distract from the strong sense of déjà vu provoked by this claustrophobic thriller's derivative story."
David Ehrlich of IndieWire gave it a more mixed review calling the flick a "Shallow but Satisfying Creature Feature" and Vulture's Bilge Ebiri termed it a relentlessly entertaining deep-sea catastrophe.
And that's pretty much how far average ratings go. New York Times probably hit the nail on the head by dubbing it "wobbly sea legs". Clearly, the subaquatic movie has more thumbs downs and that just might have anchored Stewart's career pretty tightly to the seabed.
You'd rather watch these underwater horror flicks instead. The BO numbers don't look promising either with the film projected to gross around $8 million in its opening weekend. Weigh that against the $60m budget that it was made with.
Plus it does face some competition from 'Like a Boss' starring Tiffany Haddish, Michael B. Jordan's 'Just Mercy' and Sam Mendes' Golden Globe-winning war epic '1917'.
Guess this flick could be watched best on a lonely Saturday night when it hits digital or small screens, and if you still want to probably catch it, it's running in theatres near you.