Coming from The Last King of Scotland's Kevin MacDonald, Black Sea sees the director dip his toe into the little seen submarine thriller genre, mixing in elements of a heist movie for good measure. Jude Law, affecting a very good Aberdeen accent, heads the cast as a rogue submarine captain who sees a huge payday in the story of a German U-Boat lost to the depths of the Black Sea, laden with unclaimed Nazi gold. Heading off in a wreck of a Russian submarine, with a motley crew at each others throats, he finds the mission is a lot deadlier than he expected.
With the feel of an old school adventure about it, Black Sea wastes no time in getting up and running, MacDonald content in keeping things low key and gritty. As far fetched as the hunt for hidden Nazi gold sounds, Black Sea is nicely grounded. The real meat of the story is the division between the crew, made up of retired British and Russian sailors, as the confines of the sub just stokes the fires of their greed and desperation. The action sequences that pepper the movie as it goes on are few and far between, Black Sea more concerned with building tension and atmosphere. MacDonald shoots the movie with a great eye, the shots kept to tight close ups and medium shots to really capture the claustrophobia of the character's surroundings. The plot ticks by at it's own pace, delivering a bucket load of tension and suspense. When the times comes for the tensions to boil over, it happens so innocuously that you are completely taken off guard, and the movie is sent off in a different, if slightly predictable direction. The cast, including Scoot McNairy and Michael Smiley, go a long way to making the material work (McNairy especially is highly entertaining as the weaselly representative of the missions backer) selling the tension and any leaps of logic perfectly. Law commands all the attention whenever he's on screen, imbuing Captain Robinson with a humanity that raises the character above the usual desperate man with nothing to lose.
Save for one really cruel twist, the second half of Black Sea marches onward with slightly frustrating predictability. The tension is still there, building again after it initially came to a head in the second act turn, but the plot becomes very by the numbers with the finale in sight. It doesn't hurt the movie too much, and the final minutes sees it back on top form, but all the good work done in the first and second act is somewhat wasted.
A thrilling slice of old school adventure, Black Sea's problems are outweighed by some fantastically realised tension and performances.
With the feel of an old school adventure about it, Black Sea wastes no time in getting up and running, MacDonald content in keeping things low key and gritty. As far fetched as the hunt for hidden Nazi gold sounds, Black Sea is nicely grounded. The real meat of the story is the division between the crew, made up of retired British and Russian sailors, as the confines of the sub just stokes the fires of their greed and desperation. The action sequences that pepper the movie as it goes on are few and far between, Black Sea more concerned with building tension and atmosphere. MacDonald shoots the movie with a great eye, the shots kept to tight close ups and medium shots to really capture the claustrophobia of the character's surroundings. The plot ticks by at it's own pace, delivering a bucket load of tension and suspense. When the times comes for the tensions to boil over, it happens so innocuously that you are completely taken off guard, and the movie is sent off in a different, if slightly predictable direction. The cast, including Scoot McNairy and Michael Smiley, go a long way to making the material work (McNairy especially is highly entertaining as the weaselly representative of the missions backer) selling the tension and any leaps of logic perfectly. Law commands all the attention whenever he's on screen, imbuing Captain Robinson with a humanity that raises the character above the usual desperate man with nothing to lose.
Save for one really cruel twist, the second half of Black Sea marches onward with slightly frustrating predictability. The tension is still there, building again after it initially came to a head in the second act turn, but the plot becomes very by the numbers with the finale in sight. It doesn't hurt the movie too much, and the final minutes sees it back on top form, but all the good work done in the first and second act is somewhat wasted.
A thrilling slice of old school adventure, Black Sea's problems are outweighed by some fantastically realised tension and performances.
