by Andrew Clarke

Published at 11:29, Thursday, 02 October 2008

YOU know that when you watch a disaster movie and one of its characters utters the immortal line: “I think the worst of it is over,” you can bet that the exact opposite will be true.

That is certainly the case in new release Flood, starring Robert Carlyle and Tom Courtenay.

Predictably, no sooner has a weather ‘expert’ (Nigel Planer) reassured the deputy Prime Minister (David Suchet) that the storm will “blow over”, then hell breaks loose all over London.

For what had started as a storm in sleepy Wick, at the northern point of Scotland, turns into the mother of all hurricanes that is rapidly headed straight for England’s capital.

In the face of imminent disaster, it’s up to a maintenance manager of the Thames Barrier, Rob Morrison, played by the always excellent Carlyle, to save the day. With the help of his ex-wife (Jessica Gilsig) and estranged professor father (Courtenay), he sets about putting a plan in place that will avert the disaster.

As you would expect from a disaster movie, the special effects are top notch. The sight of London, and all its landmarks, partially underwater is unnerving but brilliantly done. It brings a sense of realism to the film when you see places you can associate with – Parliament, the Underground and the London Eye – being destroyed.

But the excellent special effects aside, Flood is generally a bit of a damp squib. It pays too much attention to the engineers and unlikeable government officials who are trying to avert the disaster. In that sense, it’s overly technical and occasionally dull.

It would be better served by giving the story more of a human touch by focusing on some of the ‘ordinary’ people in the city who have been affected by the flood and their fight for survival.

It’s not that Flood is a bad film necessarily, it’s just run-of-the-mill. It’s a perfectly watchable two hours, but offers nothing that you haven’t seen in every other film of this type

Published by http://www.whitehaven-news.co.uk