Aliens of the Deep (2005) A-

As I young boy, I was obsessed with the ocean. I would read book after book about sea life. I would stay up late at night to watch Arthur C Clarke talk about the mysteries of the deep. All through secondary school, I knew I would attend a university to study Marine Biology, in particular mammalian life.

Then I caught the acting bug, and soon after, film. But I never lost my love of the ocean. Just three weeks ago, I dove in some 12 meters of South Pacific water in New Zealand. My heart ached, I am meant to be in the ocean.

Jim Cameron seems to have a similar love for water. Since The Abyss (perhaps as early as Piranha II), he seems to have water constantly on his mind. After Titanic, he continued to dive the historical wrecks of the ocean, improving the technology throughout the years.

As a follow up to Cameron's last Imax film Ghost of the Abyss, Aliens of the Deep Imax 3D does not disappoint. Thanks to the 3D, incredible animals seemingly fly across and out of the screen including giant protoplasmic "aliens" and untold fields of microbes and shrimp.

If I was to have any complaints, it would be that the film at 50 minutes runs too short (but considering the cost associated with 3D IMAX processing it's somewhat understandable). I also thought the narration device failed to connect, perhaps because the scientists, though young and diverse, come across as nerdy and more or less uninteresting. I also failed to see the point of spending nearly 10 minutes talking about the sun, humans, and animal life on the land, when really the story could and should have started in or near the water.

There's been some discussion about the third act and ending to the film. The film tells us that by learning about alien life in the darkness of the oceans, humans will be better prepared to explore the depths of space and alien worlds. And it shows us what an exploration to Europa, one of Jupiter's moons would look like. It's all very exciting up until what looks like a lost reel to The Abyss pops up. I didn't dislike the ending entirely but it did open a can of worms that a 50 minute film isn't prepared to deal with.

One would guess Cameron and the co-director expected a "wow" response to the final shot but it came across as more "oh".

I highly recommend this film for fans of space travel, Jim Cameron, and the dark, dangerous abyss.