This is a solid film. I had a couple of the same issues with this one that I did with Sully but ultimately I thought this was a much stronger movie overall. It takes a little while to get going but the explosion and the subsequent aftermath really kick it into high gear. Peter Berg echoes shades of James Cameron in the way so many of the big action sequences are staged and it's undeniably intense and impressive. I could have done with a bit more dramatic conflict and character development, as well as actually expanding on the life stories of the crew members that didn't end up making it - the slideshow of "fallen heroes" at the end doesn't feel earned because we are never introduced to these characters and all of the main cast makes it out alive. Performances are strong - particularly from Mark Wahlberg and Gina Rodriguez. I loved the scene between the two of them at the top of the burning rig, it felt very realistic and you could feel the vulnerability of Rodriguez's character. And Wahlberg's great in the scenes after the rescue. Kate Hudson has a thankless wife on the phone role but at least unlike Sully she does have a few scenes with Wahlberg's character. Dylan O'Brien could have been cast with any actor as he has about five lines and the bulk of his role is action sequences. If anything I feel like this could have been longer. It ends right as it really starts gaining momentum. Still though, it's good and worth seeing. B

This was very gripping and intense. It was roughly on par with Mark Wahlberg's last collaboration with Peter Berg, Lone Survivor, for me. I wish there had been more about the severe ecological consequences the disaster had, but that's not what they were going for and I get it. A rock solid supporting cast surrounds Wahlberg, including an immensely likable Gina Rodriguez, Kurt Russell and Kate Hudson (John Malkovich's accent tho lmao). B+

^ Pretty much this.

Deepwater Horizon is good - nothing flashy - an involving little industrial survival movie. *B+*

The maritime disaster precipitating the worst oil spill in U.S. history is dramatized in Deepwater Horizon, an earnest and exciting film directed by Peter Berg. As in Lone Survivor, Berg exalts salt-of-the-earth pragmatism and camaraderie-fueled problem solving amid chaos and peril. Though the director delivers a lavish, unnerving symphony of fire and sludge in the third act, the first hour of the film is arguably its most involving as the rhythm of life on an oil platform is established and a sense of dread slowly mounts. In these scenes, John Malkovich and Kurt Russell duel as an avaricious BP executive and a safety-minded industry veteran, respectively. This is the closest the film comes to political or social commentary; granted, it is a predictable dynamic (bloviating, evasive bureaucrat versus candid, virtuous wage earner), but a cathartic one nonetheless in this context and buoyed by the two actors' considerable talent, with a sneering Malkovich affecting an unctuous Cajun accent while Russell provides his own iconic brand of thousand-yard-stare masculine wisdom. Mark Wahlberg is also on hand and perfectly decent as the appointed family-man protagonist in a film ultimately more concerned with the collective, technical patter, and the event's timeline.

B

Deepwater Horizon

This is a gripping disaster/survival film. It is slightly too melodramatic, and Berg is auditioning to be the next Michael Bay with all those flag shots, but the tension is kept throughout, and it was great to see what actually happened on a ground level. Really, it was fascinating because when it happened back in 2010, as with most huge news stories that seem to overtake news channels for weeks, I try to avoid it all - it is too overwhelming and unless I am affected I really cannot take constant repetitive coverage of details upon details upon details. So this was a good; a quick, action-packed overview. Kurt Russell was good, as was the Peter Berg cameo, and John Malkovich's funny French accent was also pleasing. And the action, of course, that was intense, in-your-face stuff.

Then comes the bad...and it is mainly due to Mark Wahlberg. Firstly, this is a serious topic, and casting Wahlberg to movie-fy these men is a like a big kick in the teeth. I know Berg seems to love Wahlberg, but he does not fit here. Though I will say he acted very well in the stairwell scene when the girl he saved says "thank you". And secondly, I'm getting sick of seeing Wahlberg as the "every man" in films based on true stories (Lone Survivor, Patriots Day, Deepwater Horizon - all three un-coincidentally made by Peter Berg). Another problem for me was that the film lingers on whose fault it was. It goes on and on and on and on about. We get it, BP fucked up! Move on. But the Achilles heel with films like this is usually the script. For example, every pre-disaster conversation will be relevant to the disaster and the narrative that is being set. I detest this. Why can't the character just have a normal conversation that is not brought up again later after the disaster or that is related to the disaster? First it is the child's school project, then the Mexican's motorcycle. It never ends. Making them seem like real three-dimensional people wouldn't have been that hard.

However, Deepwater Horizon is a solid disaster drama despite its flaws, and that is how I will remember it.

B-

Deepwater Horizon is very solid and capably made. The activities on the oil rig have a high sense of realism and overall the film does very well in keeping me interested to the very end. I wished they touched more upon the grander impact of the accident, but as a contained story of what took place on the rig and the main characters involved it hit all the right marks. Russel and Walhberg are very well cast, Gina Rodriguez is good too and Malkovich just always has a nice presence. The effects are very good and so is the whole film really. The final scenes in the hotel and the slomo-ending I felt were too much though, but honoring those who lost their life during the event was a good touch.
The film simply succeeds very well in showing this true story in both a spectacular and dramatic way. It lacks depth, but wins me over with it's gritty and intense tone.

B+

I'm having trouble imagining anyone better than Wahlberg for this role - which actor with enough box office appeal to sell this would you have picked?

Sylvester Stallone.

David was right. It didn't help that I was heavily distracted while watching it, but nothing struck me as anything that hasn't been seen before in other disaster films. Glad I didn't pay for this one.

C

I liked this one more probably because I seeked it out. The sequence are pretty intense once the generic setup is done. The graphics are good and while I still don't like Wahlberg playing these generic man roles he does well in here. Gina Rodriguez and Kurt Russell are very good in here.