"Black Sea" is a blue-collar "The Hunt for Red October," a crudely crafted "Crimson Tide." It doesn't transcend the tired submarine genre, but the film inhabits it with a greasy, rugged aplomb.
Adopting the thick Scottish brogue of director Kevin Macdonald, Jude Law stars as an ex-Navy captain named Robinson. After he's fired from an ocean salvage corporation, another laid-off employee presents him with a literally golden opportunity — a Nazi U-boat laden with Russian gold buried beneath the Black Sea.
Just as he did with "The Last King of Scotland," Macdonald thrusts a salty yet sympathetic man into a setting steeped in bloodstained history. But rather than delivering a dour drama, he uses the setting as a springboard for juicy genre entertainment. And he draws a tough and tender lead performance that anchors the film. Law gives a commanding turn as the disgruntled seadog-turned-pirate.
Robinson quickly brings a rag-tag team of Brits and Russians on board a rusty Soviet sub in search of the Nazi treasure, promising every man an equal share. "What happens when one of them starts to figure out that their share gets bigger when there's less people to share it with?" asks the mission's Yank financier rep (played by a superbly shifty Scoot McNairy). Madness and death loom large as the men descend into the abyss.
The film goes through the motions of what you'd expect from a submarine thriller. Tensions rise between the characters in the tight quarters of the ship. Life or death hangs in the balance. The sub inevitably hits a rock wall.
"Black Sea" hits the beats of its genre at an exciting, breakneck pace. Unfortunately, it doesn't surprise in the one area where it really should — the characters who become mutinous. Early on, it's painfully obvious which men will make a monstrous turn. The camera laughably lingers on curling lips and sinister glances. But that adds to the B-movie charm the film breaks out later in its third act. One of its schlocky delights is a shot in which the sub looks like a miniature in a fish tank as it clunkily cruises through a canyon.
As in any B-movie, the joy of "Black Sea" lies in its crude craftsmanship and earthy atmosphere. You can almost smell the sweaty men as they strain to turn rusted wheels and levers. And the soot of the sub practically leaves smudges on your hands as well. But the film could have pushed further in a pulpy direction. Like the character who viciously kills two crewmates and then turns into Mr. Nice Guy, "Black Sea" backs away from promising B-movie territory too quickly and clumsily aims for earnest drama.
When it embraces its gritty nature, "Black Sea" is fun popcorn entertainment, which is refreshing to see amid some of the more austere Oscar fare out there right now. But the film struggles to engage when it strays from the white-knuckle action and otherworldly underwater setting. As one of the characters says, it's like a penguin — "sleek and elegant in the water, a waddling prick on land."
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Urrve_J9F_g&w=560&h=315]