Looks Like Nemo Found You
While this movie isn't technically a "submarine" movie, it does feature one of the more famous fictional submarines in all of literature, and so I was ok with including it in the retrospective. I speak, of course, of the Nautilus and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
From what little I know of the original 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, a movie could very easily go in a variety of directions. Being made by Disney, this movie version is family-friendly and is clearly meant to have adventure without going overly dark. I applaud Disney for doing this, but it seems to have had the unintended effect of making the movie rather bland.
The story’s main character is (probably supposed to be) Professor Aronnax (Paul Lukas), who is going on a scientific expedition to China along with his apprentice, Conseil (Peter Lorre). However, the sea routes are being attacked by a monster, so he winds up taking a circuitous route in a military ship in an attempt to track the monster down. When they encounter the monster, he, Conseil, and a sailor, Ned Land (Kirk Douglas), are knocked overboard and wind up encountering the monster again. Except it’s not a monster, it’s a submarine, the Nautilus, led by a man who calls himself Nemo (James Mason). The professor is in awe of the scientific marvels and wants to convince Nemo to use them to help benefit mankind. Nemo, however, has a very different agenda.
In other circumstances, Nemo and Aronnax’s opposing viewpoints could have made for good drama. But the biggest problem with this movie is that it keeps the character’s motivations intact, but strips out everything that shows why these characters have these motivations. Nemo is bitter against humanity thanks to what they did to him and his family, but we don’t feel it. He just mentions what happened to him and that he doesn’t trust people, but never sounds overly angry or bitter, just matter-of-fact. Nemo’s the biggest offender, being the default villain of the piece, but Aronnax and Conseil don’t have much in the way of personality either, except for broad strokes of “smart guy” and “not so smart and a little cowardly”, respectively. And while Ned Land could and probably should be a character who rails against being trapped on the Nautilus and thus acts as a sort of unpredictable element, here he’s basically a mostly genial guy who doesn’t like being on the sub but also doesn’t appear to be overly invested in getting off it. There’s not as much conflict as there should be, in short, and what conflict there is isn’t overly engaging.
As a result of all this, the movie is mildly entertaining, but that’s about it. Some scenes come across more like an underwater documentary than a movie, there are some funny or exciting moments (like the ultimately pointless attack by a giant squid), and while the acting is fine, nobody really stands out (which is a shame, because I generally rely on Mason and Lorre to help elevate mediocre movies). Only one thing really stuck with me, and that’s only because of its questionable nature. At one point, Ned cons his way to going to an island in an attempt to escape. But the island is inhabited by cannibals, who give chase. The fact that the natives are black are a little cringe-inducing today, but was standard for the time. No, what brings this up to “what were you thinking?!” is the fact that, as the cannibals give chase, the music unquestionably sounds like jazz rather than tribal drums. In other circumstances, it would have just been weird or even funny. Here, it just causes stupefied amazement.
Much as I hate to say it, this movie could probably benefit from being remade. Allowing the characters to explore their darker sides would allow the audience to connect with the story, and special effects could make the Nautilus a real steampunk marvel. While the movie we have now is an ok little film to show kids, there’s no real substance to it. And though I’m certainly ok with mindless, time-passing films, I think this one needed just a little more oomph to make it a movie worth passing time with.
From what little I know of the original 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, a movie could very easily go in a variety of directions. Being made by Disney, this movie version is family-friendly and is clearly meant to have adventure without going overly dark. I applaud Disney for doing this, but it seems to have had the unintended effect of making the movie rather bland.
The story’s main character is (probably supposed to be) Professor Aronnax (Paul Lukas), who is going on a scientific expedition to China along with his apprentice, Conseil (Peter Lorre). However, the sea routes are being attacked by a monster, so he winds up taking a circuitous route in a military ship in an attempt to track the monster down. When they encounter the monster, he, Conseil, and a sailor, Ned Land (Kirk Douglas), are knocked overboard and wind up encountering the monster again. Except it’s not a monster, it’s a submarine, the Nautilus, led by a man who calls himself Nemo (James Mason). The professor is in awe of the scientific marvels and wants to convince Nemo to use them to help benefit mankind. Nemo, however, has a very different agenda.
In other circumstances, Nemo and Aronnax’s opposing viewpoints could have made for good drama. But the biggest problem with this movie is that it keeps the character’s motivations intact, but strips out everything that shows why these characters have these motivations. Nemo is bitter against humanity thanks to what they did to him and his family, but we don’t feel it. He just mentions what happened to him and that he doesn’t trust people, but never sounds overly angry or bitter, just matter-of-fact. Nemo’s the biggest offender, being the default villain of the piece, but Aronnax and Conseil don’t have much in the way of personality either, except for broad strokes of “smart guy” and “not so smart and a little cowardly”, respectively. And while Ned Land could and probably should be a character who rails against being trapped on the Nautilus and thus acts as a sort of unpredictable element, here he’s basically a mostly genial guy who doesn’t like being on the sub but also doesn’t appear to be overly invested in getting off it. There’s not as much conflict as there should be, in short, and what conflict there is isn’t overly engaging.
As a result of all this, the movie is mildly entertaining, but that’s about it. Some scenes come across more like an underwater documentary than a movie, there are some funny or exciting moments (like the ultimately pointless attack by a giant squid), and while the acting is fine, nobody really stands out (which is a shame, because I generally rely on Mason and Lorre to help elevate mediocre movies). Only one thing really stuck with me, and that’s only because of its questionable nature. At one point, Ned cons his way to going to an island in an attempt to escape. But the island is inhabited by cannibals, who give chase. The fact that the natives are black are a little cringe-inducing today, but was standard for the time. No, what brings this up to “what were you thinking?!” is the fact that, as the cannibals give chase, the music unquestionably sounds like jazz rather than tribal drums. In other circumstances, it would have just been weird or even funny. Here, it just causes stupefied amazement.
Much as I hate to say it, this movie could probably benefit from being remade. Allowing the characters to explore their darker sides would allow the audience to connect with the story, and special effects could make the Nautilus a real steampunk marvel. While the movie we have now is an ok little film to show kids, there’s no real substance to it. And though I’m certainly ok with mindless, time-passing films, I think this one needed just a little more oomph to make it a movie worth passing time with.