'Waterworld' a venture into familiar territory

By Jason Tedjasukmana

JAKARTA (JP): Riding a wave of criticism and curiosity comes the planet's most expensive movie ever. Waterworld, costing a reported US$200 million to make, has washed ashore in Indonesia, where it is to continue recouping its investment.

Despite its cool reception in the United States, the film's box office take overseas is expected to ease the producers into the black. Cost overruns and scheduling setbacks have forced the filmmakers to ensure the film's universal appeal through a string of Hollywood cliches and predictable plot twists, both of which bog down the film's interesting premise.

In Waterworld, the future is not a place of technological advancements and logical progress but a return to survival instinct and lawless individualism. The polar ice caps have melted, apparently because of our ecological negligence, submerging the earth's surface under water. Despite its mythical status, the way to Dryland is debated and fought over by the lowly inhabitants that remain: the Atollers, an isolated community of traders living on a man-made atoll, and the Smokers, a band of miscreants holed up on the wreckage of an oil tanker called the Deez, presumably the Exxon Valdez.

The mariner (Kevin Costner), a nomadic misanthrope that roams the high seas in his trimaran, belongs to no one. Unlike the other destitute souls forced to scrape together an existence in Waterworld, the mariner, a mutant life-form with gills, webbed feet and rugged good looks, survives by bartering goods he retrieves from the ocean floor. His subsequent contact with the Atollers and flight from the Smokers is the basis of this film in search of an identity.

Identity crisis

As an action film, Waterworld lacks the key element of suspense. Costner has traded in his bow for a harpoon, and though his aim is still as deadly as Robin Hood's, the film's direction is off the mark. Waterworld's muffled plot reflects the highly- publicized infighting that seems to have confused the filmmakers' intentions while the numerous cuts made in post production cost the film its visionary potential. Was it to be dark and moody along the lines of what Kevin Reynolds, the original director, wanted? Or would it become heroic as Kevin Costner, who eventually replaced Reynolds, had planned from the beginning?

To the credit of both, the film doesn't cave in completely to populist demand for romance on the high seas, an easy choice which inevitably would have pleased producers and audiences alike. The film maintains its integrity as an exploration of a somewhat plausible scenario, but its grip on the imagination is weakened by a script of humorless characters and stale dialog.

Depth perception

The majority of characters are one dimensional, with Dennis Hopper epitomizing the trend in his once-again typecasted role as the demented villain. Deacon, leader of the Smokers, sets out to destroy the Mariner, who is harboring valuable cargo in the form of Helen (Jeanne Tripplehorn) and her adopted daughter Enola. Hopper looks to Mussolini for cues in both charisma and coiffure, yet his presence is more oafish than ominous.

The character of Enola, an ironic name in a post-nuclear world, intrigues the most as the wild child that appears on the atoll with no explanation. Twelve-year-old Tina Majorino plays the surly sea urchin with natural aplomb, though the spell she casts over the Mariner is something of a stretch. Her back is covered in a tattoo that maps the way to Dryland, apparently drawn by her long-lost parents, making her the highly-prized target of the Smokers. Her incessant doodling on the Mariner's boat results in the movie's better scenes.

Waterworld is an unmistakably ambitious project. Over a year and a half was needed just for development and a reported $120 million was spent even before filming began in mid-1994. Massive sets were built 1000 yards off Hawaii's Kona Coast and hundreds of special visual effects were employed to create a convincing underwater world. The mariner's 60-foot trimaran is another exceptional craft, boasting more gadgets than the Batmobile.

Dean Semler's cinematography also deserves commendation, especially given the complications of removing all traces of dry land from sight. Charles Gordon elaborated on the filming difficulties: "We had to shoot every scene one way -- out to sea -- so you don't see any land. Then we had to rotate the set to shoot the reverse angle. So now we're shooting, and suddenly a boat sails by, and the take isn't good."

In an endless battle just to keep their heads above water, the production schedule turned into a grueling 166-day affair with over 400 people fighting wind, rain, heat... and water, Mother Nature's least predictable element.

"Until you work on water you can't appreciate what's involved, the level of difficulty," Kevin Reynolds explained. "It's like trying to hold a dozen marbles on top of a beach ball. A lot of times, things are simply out of your control."

Ultimately, the film's entry into the history books will probably owe more to these and other behind-the-scenes battles than anything else.

With a hole in the ozone layer the size of Europe now growing over Antarctica, we all may be submerged underwater soon. For now, however, Waterworld is more like a warm bath -- something you look forward to dipping into, but forget moments after getting out.