If you have a first time movie writer like Black Sea has, then you give them an easy premise to write for, which Black Sea has. Submarines have built in tension from darkness, tight spaces, and close quarters, so writing a story for a submarine movie is like shooting fish in a barrel. It also helps when Jude Law is around to pick up the story’s slack.
Former sub captain Robinson (Law) is having a rough go of it, being deemed expendable by his former employer. With nowhere else to turn, Robinson agrees to captain a sub under conflicted Russian/Georgian waters to redeem lost gold from a grounded Nazi submarine. Robinson chooses a half Russian, half British crew and elects to split the money equally. However, crew greed and prejudices threaten to interfere with his best laid plans.
Black Sea does a great job fleshing out character conflict in a confined setting. The Russian/British relationship is mined to max effect; there is inherent tension from the dichotomy of the cultures and the aging members of the crew who understand the prejudices. The tension at first is dissipated with a very adept string of gallows humor. I suppose when Russians are around, that is a given. But each of the characters get established through this sniping, making it a fun use of necessary character development. Once things start to go wrong, these decisions are not just servicing for the plot, but they make sense for who the characters are and amp up the character traits to 100. Like any thriller, there will be twists and double crosses. One twist I didn’t see coming, but unfortunately many you can see happening a mile away.
Like the old sub in the movie, there are lots of holes in Black Sea if you really start thinking about it. The physics/science is suspect at best, especially when it comes to the sonar elements. The third act quickly brushes past some giant logic gaps for a tidy ending. The CGI looks like a computer model from 1997. The story covers for many of these issues, but that being said, even the story isn’t perfect. There’s a juicy subplot using language barriers that gets abandoned too quickly, and Black Sea uses corporate malfeasance as an argument WAY too often. Black Sea is smart enough to keep things moving, but is not really up for much introspection after the ending.
Jude Law radiates something. To captain a submarine with these cretonnes requires a magnetic personality, and Law makes Robinson a man to be followed. Surrounding him are mostly quality character actors. Scoot McNairy is perfectly douchey as the corporate shill and Ben Mendelsohn embodies the loose cannon with aplomb.
Black Sea is solid movie entertainment. You can enjoy it while you’re watching it, and then just go about living your life without feeling drained in any way. I had a good time; I mean, what’s more fun than watching 2 great accented peoples pointing out flaws with the other’s culture?
Movie logic gaps made me loose interest . If I were 12 years old it would of been ok.