I had some great anticipation for Master and Commander, a rip-roaring, high-seas, realistic adventure that stars Russell Crowe and is directed by Peter Weir. It’s based off of the best-selling 20 novel long series about the friendship between British sea-captain ‘Lucky’ Jack Aubrey and Dr. Stephen Maturin.
The year is 1805, and pretty much the whole of Europe, lead by Britain, is at war with Napoleon. Aubrey (Russell Crowe), is given orders to seek out and destroy the Acheron, one of Napoleon’s best warships. Instead, the Acheron ambushes Aubrey’s own vessel, the Surprise, and inflicts severe damage and heavy casualties. Aubrey and his men take care of their ship, refitting it, and set out to destroy the Acheron. A chase ensures across two oceans, and spanning several months in length.
The film depicts a realistic, authentic feel to life aboard a vessel in those days. However, the characters all remain static, unmoving and unconvincing.
The film starts out well with the sneak attack by the Acheron, almost blowing the Surprise to pieces. I was mostly impressed by the film’s first 40 minutes, but after that it turned into an elongated and exhausting adventure ride.
I won’t call the film poorly acted; in fact, the actors gave it their all to portray English sailors. Unfortunately, their roles are somewhat disappointing, as I mentioned above that all of the characters are stagnant and unmoving. In addition, the final, climatic battle scene between the Surprise and the Acheron is poorly executed and also not that well filmed.
Master and Commander is at most pure entertainment. It doesn’t represent anything bigger then what it was. This is, however, one of the better portraits at sea-life in the 1800s, but it never leaped beyond that. Master and Commander may not be totally sunk, but it’s also not perfectly afloat.
***/5
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