ironhorse_iv Review of In the Heart of the Sea

In the Heart of the Sea (2015)

This whale of tale movie was alright, but somewhat disappointing. It could had been better.

[7/10 · 16 December 2015]

Whale! Whale! Whale! You would think the inspiration for author Herman Melville's 1851's novel, "Moby Dick" would be amazing to watch. Sadly, this 2015 biographical survivor film directed by Ron Howard, wasn't a big splash with the audiences when it came out. For me, personally, this movie was entertaining to a point; but the story about an angry sperm whale sinking a whaling boat really needed to be told, better. I really didn't like the framing device in which, this movie is told. Yes, it was mostly alright, that the movie had the whale return, multiplies times after the sinking to show, how malevolently, the creature can be, but this isn't 1975's Jaws or even 1956's Moby Dick, which were fictional movie based on true stories. This movie was market as the true-encounter that inspired the myth of Moby Dick. You can't do really do that, if you're trying to be truthful, because it totally undermined and contradict the whole marketing message. For a film saying, it's the realistic account of that story, it has to portray the whale, more to what it truly is. A normal creature that only attack once, not a symbol of God's wrath. This film wasn't even close to being accuracy to the real-life events of the sinking of the whaling ship, Essex in 1820 at all. I'm surprise, by this, because it's based on Nathaniel Philbrick's 2000 non-fiction book of the same name; which in my opinion was very accuracy. Several aspects of the story was indeed missing like the burning of Charles Island & the resupply in Galapagos in this film. Plus, it didn't help that the film depart significantly, just to add a sub-plot where author Herman Melville (Ben Whishaw) goes to an old mariner, Thomas Nickerson (Brendan Gleeson) to get his account of the events, despite being aware of the story from whaler, Owen Chase (Chris Hemsworth). It really seem, pretty odd that Thomas Nickerson would know, a lot about Owen's relationship with his wife, and his boss, George Pollard (Benjamin Walker). It was a bit jarring. The film's biggest problem over the entire film was the pacing. It really took forever to get anywhere. A lot of the scenes were really drawn out & quite boring. Whenever, something interesting comes into play, the film sucks it out, by eventually abandoning the conflict; such was the case between how the ship should be run between Chase and Pollard, or the will to survive between Chase and the White Whale. It feels very anti-climax. The dialogue was also a problem. It was mostly dull exposition, with little to no character development in it. I really, didn't get to relate to anybody in the crew, as much, as I should had. I really thought, there would be great scenes that would give us, some insight on who these men, are. The movie could also work better, with some inherent adventurous epic maritime life music to it, even if it's a tragic showing. It would really lighten this movie, up. It would make the film, a lot more fun to watch. I love the use of CGI in this film. The whole whale attack really did stand out for the brief scenes, they had. It look really real to me. I also like how the film goes all bloody and grizzly in its portrayal of how ugly, the whaling business can be. Scenes like a young man being forced into a dead whale's head was pretty interesting in its gory worst. However, it was a bit weird for the PG-13 film to show that, but unable to show any scene of cannibalism during the surviving in the ocean parts. It seem like it was a bit sugar-coated. What the hell, movie! However, I do like the make-up work in this film. Some of the actors really did, looking like they were starving to death. That 500-600 calories diet that the actors had to do, was crazy. Acting wise, the film was also pretty good. Chris Hemsworth was the obvious standout, he was able to show off his acting talents quite a few times throughout the film, but still it was nothing truly astounding. It's sad that he can't show, much of his acting chops, beside those Marvel films. The supporting cast was also mostly pretty strong, with Benjamin Walker, Tom Holland, and Cillian Murphy standing out. Overall: How does In the Heart of the Sea compare to other tales of sea-voyage catastrophes? It was somewhat below average. While, braving storms, starvation, panic and despair, will call into question the man's deepest beliefs, from the value of their lives to the morality of their trade, I never really got to interested in the story to care if they live or not. While, this adaptation clearly had the big budget, it fails to connect emotionally with me, like similar films like 2000's Perfect Storm or 2012's Life of Pi. It's worth watching, but not much, replay value. See it, if you want to.