Into the Blue

By Chhun Sun

The Collegian

At face value, “Into the Blue” looks like a superficial movie made for people who want to get a dose of hot bodies soaked in water.

Just check out the trailers for the film, which shows Jessica Alba twisting her slim and flawless body like a fish through the ocean blue water. And the ladies aren’t forgotten either. Paul Walker is seen for the most part shirtless, glistening in the sun like a bodybuilder.

But that’s the catch.

“Into the Blue,” which opens nationwide today, is more than a movie about perfect bodies in bathing suits.
Wait.

To a degree, it does fall victim to the shallow perception but for the most part, it’s a film that has much action as sex appeal.

Alba plays Sam, a two-dimensional character who can be the perfect girlfriend in one scene and the worst in the next. In this underwater thriller, Sam is a catch. She’s that sweet support -girlfriend who can see past the money (treasure in this case) and love her boyfriend, Jared (Walker), a scuba-diver who can’t keep a job and only has a beat down boat and a dog to his name.

Alba doesn’t play out of her element, as she is the typical girl in the film.

Alba and Walker play their roles very flatly. When scenes call for anger, they fall short. But it’s their physical easy-on-the-eyes that keeps the action on top and flowing like a broken kitchen facet.

What the couple finds, with the help Jared’s his brother Bryce (Scott Caan) and Bryce’s really new girlfriend, Amanda (Ashley Scott), is a lost ship called the Zephyr, with possible gold in it. Near the Zephyl lies a sunken ship full of cocaine.

This makes for a whole lot of drama when the drug lord who owns the cocaine finds out that the group of divers located his stuff. And this makes the film more exciting and fast-paced, especially with the performance of Caan, who gives the film its very much-needed comic relief and attitude.

“Into the Blue” does fall under some heavy clichés. Come on, a group of divers searching for lost treasure? That’s been overdone like a girl putting on makeup to cover up a pimple. But director John Stockwell knows that. He keeps the film intriguing with his close shots of the cast and the fast-paced direction that keeps the action intense.

But if the action isn’t your cup of tea, remember Alba and Walker are in the film — and that’s enough reason for people to dive into their pocketbooks to see the movie.

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