An oil platform dramatically goes down on the Norwegian coast, and researchers try to find out what happened when they realize this is just the start of something even more serious.
In 2015, Norway released a big-budget action thriller called “The Wave,” about the collapse of the Åkerneset crevice in the northernmost part of Western Norway, resulting in a 260-foot high violent tsunami that threatens the small tourist village of Geiranger. Three years later, the filmmakers released a sequel, “The Quake,” which picks up a few years after the first film’s events. Now we have “The Burning Sea,” another big-budget Norwegian action thriller in the vein of Peter Berg’s “Deepwater Horizon.” It is made by the same production company that produced “The Wave” and “The Quake,” but it is an original story not connected to the titles above.
Submarine operator Sofia Hartman (Kristine Kujath Thorp) and her co-worker Arthur (Rolf Kristian Larsen) are called to assess a maritime disaster. A large oil rig in the North Sea has collapsed, and its company fears there may be survivors trapped in air bubbles beneath the surface. Sofia guides her snake-like mini-sub, Elle, into the murky depths and discovers one survivor, but before they have time to rescue him, the rig begins to tremble violently, forcing Sofia to retract the sub. A large explosion occurs shortly after that, decimating the hope of saving any other possible survivors.
Looking back at the footage of the mini-sub’s descent, Sofia is shocked to see an expanding large crack on the ocean floor that appears to be emitting large quantities of methane gas. She brings her analysis to the attention of William Lie (Bjørn Floberg), Norway’s Emergency Manager, and he takes it to the board of directors. He informs them that with over 184 offshore rigs in the North Sea alone, the best course of action would be to evacuate them all so that the maritime experts can inspect the ocean floor and the crack that has appeared. The evacuation is agreed upon, and while it is underway, Sofia’s boyfriend Stian (Henrik Bjelland), who works as the Rig Manager on a rig in the Gullfaks oil field, volunteers to close down one of the pumps that appears to be damaged before leaving the rig. Making his way down to the pump, which lies in a large underwater pipeline, the rig begins to rumble, and one of its legs disintegrates into the water.
With all of the rigs now evacuated, Sofia learns that Stian never made it out of the pipeline. When she informs William Lie of this, he states that he can’t send anybody back because of the severity of the situation, but she believes that Stian could still be alive and takes matters into her own hands. Along with Arthur, she reaches out to Stian’s sister, who works for the Coast Guard, and flies them out to the platform. Once there, they drop Elle into the water and search for Stian using infrared. With thousands of gallons of oil spread out on the ocean’s surface for hundreds of miles, Sofia and Arthur learn that the government has approved an airstrike that will burn up the oil before it can reach the shoreline. With the clock ticking, they must race to find Stian before it’s too late.
I love this film and its two predecessors because it packs more punch than most Hollywood big disaster movies. I have long been a fan of Roland Emmerich; “Independence Day,” “The Day After Tomorrow,” and “2012” are longtime favorites of mine, but his more recent efforts, “Independence Day: Resurgence” and “Moonfall” have completely missed the mark in terms of overall big-screen destruction and mayhem. They are overly conventional and unoriginal, and maybe it’s time for Mr. Emmerich to hang up his “master of disaster” mantle, a moniker he deservedly inherited from Irwin Allen. As Sofia, Kristine Kujath Thorp exudes a determination and courage that never feels artificial. She is not the personification of some big-time director who projects their interpretation of what a strong female lead should be, she reacts to the situations around her, analyzes them, and proceeds accordingly.
John Andreas Andersen, who also directed the aforementioned “The Quake,” utilizes CGI intermittently, and seamlessly employs a combination of computer-generated effects and real-life pyrotechnics to generate the dangerous fires and explosions throughout. Because the CGI is utilized sparingly, you find yourself caring more about the characters and the story and less about the special effects, something Hollywood could learn a thing or two about. The story also serves as a reminder of the environmental consequences of our actions due to offshore drilling, but for most people, this will be viewed as another disaster movie than an informational narrative about what could happen, and it’s sad to say it’s only a matter of time before catastrophe strikes again.
In Theaters and On-Demand Friday, February 25th
