Wes Anderson has
such a distinct style that it would appear safe to assume that a fan of one of
his films would automatically be a fan of all of his films, but I find myself
teetering back and forth between admiration and irritation from one film to
another and often find his unique cinematic approach entirely responsible
whichever the case. There is such a fine line for his deadpan comedic styling
to work within each narrative. Sometimes this humor enhances a film, and then
there are times it feels overly detached, sarcastic and contrived. They also
begin to lose a bit of their original style with each film Anderson
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou had
the difficult task of being the film to follow Anderson Anderson
The biggest
reason I find it difficult to feel any kinship for The Life Aquatic is the
emotional distancing caused by the deadpan humor in this film, whereas The
Royal Tenenbaum succeeded in at least some expression of emotion from
characters, however minimized. The story itself seems far less sentimental in
The Life Aquatic, killing off characters as more of a comedic punch-line than
any melodramatic inclinations.
The storyline is
both simplistic and imaginatively designed with childlike creativity. Logic and
practicality take backseat to fantasy, and this is clear by all representations
of ocean life captured on film by internationally acclaimed oceanographer and
documentary filmmaker Steve Zissou (Bill Murray). The movie begins with the
premiere of his latest adventure documentary film, in which his longtime friend
and partner is eaten by a mysterious never-before-seen Jaguar shark. The film
is poorly received and Zissou’s career appears to be on the downswing, but he
is determined for his next film to be about his journey for revenge by killing
the shark that ate his friend.
Adding comical
deadpan humor to the expedition is the inclusion of new team members, a young
pilot named Ned (Owen Wilson) who believes himself to be the bastard son of
Zissou, and a pregnant journalist (Cate Blanchett). The crew also has an overly
sensitive German (Willem Dafoe), Zissou’s wealthy wife (Anjelica Huston), a
herd of college interns, and an assortment of other crew members aboard an
imaginative ship filled with rooms for every imaginable comfort at sea. The
mission to find the shark is plagued by money troubles, criminal activity,
kidnappings by pirates, and plenty of petty relationship issues amongst each
other.
This
director-approved Blu-ray release of The Life Aquatic has a newly restored 4K digital
transfer of the film, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio Soundtrack. The
special features have been previously released on the DVD, but the high
definition alone makes the upgrade worthwhile for fans of one of Anderson
Entertainment Value:
8.5/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 8/10
Historical
Significance: 7.5/10
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