Given my recent pillaging it might seem odd to cut Waterworld (1995) a break. To be sure, the canonical consensus is correct. It's a thoroughly lousy film. But it ISN'T as bad one may have thought. The problem is not that it's a bad film but just an average one and truly average despite the massive efforts being made. Kevin Costner is a weird kind of fishman calling himself the Mariner (a very cool name) in an apoclayptic future where the Earth is covered with water. The story idea is potentially great but Kevin Reynolds' poor direction and a so-so script by Peter Rader and David Twohy keep managing to trap the film in Battfield Earth stupidities.
A post-apocalyptic science fiction action film is not a tough genre to make either but Costner's heroics here have been done to death and his performance is nice but no great surprises are in store. More critically, there is no great villain which kills any narrative momentum. The action scenes and special effects are spectacular and the story never bores you. But it never grips you either.
The real tragedy is Jeanne Tripplehorn who offers up another stellar performance and could have been a potential Jennifer Connelly - this film sadly destroyed her career.
An average, sub-par movie that could've easily been a three-star delight with just better editing and writing.
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