Leofwine_draca Review of In the Heart of the Sea

In the Heart of the Sea (2015)

Old-fashioned adventure with an overload of CGI

[6/10 · 14 April 2018]

IN THE HEART OF THE SEA is an energetic and old-fashioned high seas adventure directed by Ron Howard and based on the same true story that inspired Herman Melville to write MOBY DICK. Unfortunately this leads to an extensive framing narrative involving Brendan Gleeson's salty old sea-dog and Ben Whishaw playing Melville, seeking material for his next novel. At times the narrative will be in the heart of the action before jumping back to the present, but they should have dropped this flabby extension of the running time all together to focus on the main story. It's the usual tale of survival at sea against the odds, with a battle against an abnormally large whale making up the heart of the narrative. Unfortunately, Howard gets obsessed with CGI here and at times the film is nothing more than a series of shots of actors against a green screen interacting with CGI. Still, the human drama is quite engrossing, and the cast is surprisingly good; Hemsworth flexs his acting chops unshackled from THOR, while Cillian Murphy, Joseph Mawle, Tom Holland and Frank Dillane all get their moments to shine.