Jackson Booth-Millard
The title made it obvious it was some kind of dark movie, in the water, I knew the leading actor in it, and that critics gave it good reviews, so I was just hoping for something worthwhile, directed by Kevin Macdonald (Touching the Void, The Last King of Scotland). Basically veteran sea captain Robinson (Jude Law) has recently divorced from his wife and is estranged from his son, he then receives the news that he is being made redundant, given £8,640 for his services and told to clean his desk. Later Robinson has drinks with former colleagues, he meets his friend Kurston (Daniel Ryan) and a Russian called Blackie (Konstantin Khabensky), Kurston tells Robinson they have an idea that could make them all a lot of money. A German Type VIIC U-boat from World War II that sank off the coast of Georgia, with a cargo of gold worth millions, their former colleague found its location, but it was never salvaged. Robinson agrees with Kurston to meet a backer named Lewis (Casino Royale's Tobias Menzies), who agrees to fund Robinson's expedition, on the grounds he receives a 40% cut on proceeds worth up to $40 million, a 20% cut on anything above that, and that his executive Daniels (Scoot McNairy) accompany the expedition. Robinson agrees to the deal, but then a young man named Tobin (Bobby Schofield) informs him that Kurston has committed suicide, Robinson decides to bring Tobin on the expedition, acquiring a Foxtrot-class submarine from the Port of Sevastopol. The crew is 50% Russian and 50% British, there are issues between the two groups almost immediately, only Blackie speaks both Russian and English, and Tobin is viewed as a bad omen, mistaken as a virgin, when in fact he is an expectant father. Tension begins to mount between the two crews due to the close confines of the submarine, and Robinson makes the decision that the take will be divided equally between each crewman. Due to mounting pressures the crew fall out, there is a fight, and Fraser (Ben Mendelsohn) loses his head, stabbing and killing Blackie, the ensuing scuffle causes a fire to break out, the sub is damaged, Robinson is knocked unconscious and at least two men are killed. Eighteen hours later, Robinson wakes to find tensions at breaking point, the Russians have taken over half of the boat, with the British in the other half, and with Blackie dead there is no way to speak to the Russians. The sub's drive shaft is damaged, they discover they are close to the old U-boat, they may be able to transfer its drive shaft and save the boat, but tensions continue to mount when it discovered Morozov (Grigoriy Dobrygin) speaks English. Robinson sends Tobin with Fraser and diver Peters (David Threlfall) to recover the drive-shaft and the gold, but on their way back, Peter perishes when his air hose gets cut. With Morozov translating the crew manage to get the Russians to install the drive-shaft and get the submarine moving again, at this stage, Daniels admits that they have been set up to do the dangerous job, his employer will seize the gold as soon as they surface. Robinson decides to remain submerged and travel to Turkey, to keep the gold and avoid arrest, he also decides, against the wishes of the crew, to attempt a risky journey through a narrow channel. Meanwhile Daniels persuades Fraser to murder Zaytsev (Sergey Puskepalis), there are no longer enough men to safely operate the submarine, and a second fire and explosion sends the boat back to the seafloor, and it begins taking on water. Fraser and the remaining crew members try to repair the leaks, but their efforts are futile, before the men can escape, a panicked Daniels locks the bulkhead behind him, three men are left to drown, but he traps himself snagging his clothing. Morozov closes the final bulkhead, Daniels if left to drown, and he, Robinson and Tobin are protected in the torpedo section, there are three hidden escape suits hidden. Robinson evacuates Tobin and Morozov, he explains he will follow using an emergency lever, the two men surface, but Morozov informs Robin there was no lever, Robinson chose to sacrifice himself, it ends with the thirs suit surfacing with some gold and Robinson's family picture inside. Also starring Jodie Whittaker as Chrissy, Karl Davies as Liam, Michael Smiley as Reynolds, Sergey Veksler as Baba and Sergey Kolesnikov as Levchenko. Law sports a strong Scottish accent and is good as the captain struggling to maintain control, the other cat members are fine as well, it is a simple enough story, westerners versus the Russians undersea, mixed with a desperate struggle to survive, and a treasure hunt, there is a fair amount of disaster to keep a pace going, overall it is a watchable thriller. Good!
