***/**** (3.5 stars)
In 1850, Herman Melville travelled to Nantucket to hear the tale of the whaling ship, the Essex, from the last known survivor. It is a story of two men at odds with each other, a ship bound for the ends of the Earth, and a huge white whale.
The first, and most obvious, thing to point out, is undoubtedly the incredible cast list director Ron Howard has managed to pull together. Ben Whishaw is Herman Melville, perfectly acted as a man whose imagination has been captured by the legend of the Essex and is determined to turn it into a great novel. Whishaw is pitted against an equally excellent Brendan Gleeson, the tortured surviving crew member, Thomas Nickerson, who went to sea as a fresh-faced teenager (portrayed by the instantly likeable Tom Holland) and returned haunted by what he had done and seen. Whishaw and Gleeson are treated to the best parts of the script, and whilst their scenes are mainly stationary, it's still a pleasure to see two great actors occupy the same screen. On board the boat, bullish First Mate Owen Chase (Chris Hemsworth, struggling with the accent) and inexperienced Captain Pollard (Benjamin Walker) lock horns, but their story remains somewhat undeveloped. Indeed, this is a poor copy of the tumultuous relationship shown between Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany in Master and Commander. Cillian Murphy is criminally underused as Second Mate Matthew Joy, especially when there are so many hints at an interesting backstory, whilst the rest of the cast struggle for limited screen time. Still, we experience enough of a connection with them for there to be a significant emotional punch when tragedy occurs.
For such a great cast and such an evocative story, the film is, unfortunately, somewhat an empty vessel, all spectacle and no substance. Indeed, one of the main issues is the representation of the whale itself. In the novel, Moby Dick is almost a phantom, rarely seen but with his presence being always felt by the haunted crew. Here, the eponymous white whale is frequently seen, jumping out of the water, flicking the vast tail and ramming the various boats with its massive head. The problem is, it is so obviously CGI. Set against the very visceral feel and appearance of the ship itself, the whale looks somewhat ridiculous, and fails to immerse the viewer in the blood and guts world it is trying to portray. Indeed, whilst watching the film, I felt it probably would have been better for the whale to remain largely unseen, meaning that the glimpses of it beneath the surface could have been an actual being, a mechanical contraption of some kind. As it stands, the whale loves the camera almost as much as the human cast, throwing itself into shot at every possible opportunity, flashing over-zealous use of CGI hither and thither. The film is certainly not as psychological as it could have been either. In the novel, the characters are haunted individuals, believing themselves cursed and doomed and, whilst this is touched upon here, it does not have the impact of the book. It feels more like looking into a muddy puddle, as opposed to the abyss of the original text.
Having said that, this is by no means a poor film: it rattles along at a fair old pace, and the cast are all a joy to watch. The various sets are excellently realised, and the vast expanse of the ocean is beautifully filmed, whilst the score is also emotive and engaging. Yes, the script is a little clunky in places, and the accents are largely all over the place, but this is certainly an enjoyable film, with some 'look away' moments and plenty of excellent action.
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