The Abyss

Abyss is one of my favorite words, and sadly, NOT one of my favorite movies.

in The Abyss, James Cameron did a wonderful job at....well nothing. I can't decide if I respect him more for overcoming these previous movies, and creating a masterpiece (the Titanic,) or if I've lost all respect at all.

It's easier for me to find similarities between The Abyss and Terminator, because I feel they are on the same playing field, which Titanic is not. If someone was to ask me what the plot of the Abyss was, I would struggle to come up with a response. Something about some lost nuclear submarine, which may sound intriguing, but trust me, it was not. I feel as thought the Abyss may have been a warm up for Titanic. Although it's not the focal part of the Abyss, James Cameron also created a romantic storyline between two, and they similar to Jack and Rose, in the Titanic, get separated by water. But that was the only similarity i could find between the two. Similar to the Terminator, I believe the character's were very flat. I didn't feel like they changed at all from beginning to end, or showed any different sides to the dull personalities they were given. I already briefly mentioned, but I thought the Abyss struggled to have a clear plot. It took about a good hour to get into what the the Abyss "was really about." It was as if the first hour was meant to set the scene, it was like a really really long fist chapter of a book, which is never a good thing.


Struggling to not write of James Cameron completely, I tried to find something I could commend him for. And I will say that Cameron, did challenge himself with the set. Nearly all of the movie is set underwater, with large machinery, and what isn't underwater, is set on top of water. Being able to still produce a film underwater, and still create camera angles, and shots, that could be created out of water, truly takes skill and dedication. I just wish he would have used it to a better cause than the Abyss.