A sinking feeling.

Rating: 6/10 (21 May 2020)

'Titanic (1997)' is bogged down by arguably unnecessary modern day sequences, its run-time sailing well beyond the time it actually took for its eponymous ship to sink. These opening and closing moments are what started Cameron's seemingly unending obsession with deep-sea documentation and, in some ways, seem a little too indulgent. However, they do add a layer of theming to the thing and sort of explain the director's motives in making a massively budgeted, romantically focused epic out of one of the most well-known tragedies of the twentieth century. Once the piece progresses into its bulk, it starts to become a lot more interesting. The film revels in its splendid set-design and CG-enhanced environments, marvelling at its own ability to aptly convey the period and paying immense attention to even the smallest of details (though it's apparently content with 'filling in the gaps' any way it pleases). At times, the picture feels rather self-congratulatory, to be honest. However, this confidence is mostly well-placed; the movie did, after all, make over a billion dollars. Just because it made money doesn't mean it's automatically good, though. It's undeniably messy and slow, somewhat confused as to whether it wants to be a straight-forward historical tragedy or an alternate-history 'against all odds' romance (and that's not even mentioning the reflexive, somewhat self-aware vibes of the modern day stuff). Having said that, it's effective on more than one occasion. Some of the romantic banter between its leads is charming, as is their overall relationship, and the 'clash of the classes' angle is generic but enjoyable. Any time DiCaprio and Winslet share the screen, the film is fairly entertaining. However, it doesn't get properly gripping until the DVD asks you to change disks halfway through. This latter half is dedicated, almost entirely, to the sinking of the ship. This is a well-known fact and, frankly, a key selling point of the picture, so it isn't exactly a surprise. Yet, the extended sequence does a good job of maintaining tension by introducing mini conflicts which don't have a pre-determined end. This segment contains some visually spectacular stuff, as water floods corridors or crushes characters against gates and the whole ship turns on its side as it sinks to the depths below. Thankfully, this stuff isn't beautiful; it's devastating. Some of it is really suspenseful, too. It's the most successful aspect of the piece, for sure - although it does feature a shot that demonstrates literally the worst 'face replacement' I've ever seen. When it comes down to it, the flick isn't as impactful as it should have been. It struggles to balance its two major elements, feels unnecessarily long and is often somewhat self-indulgent (and, thus, rather dull). It is, however, a visually spectacular and occasionally charming experience with a highly effective final third. It's long and uneven, but it's probably worth a go if you're a fan of DiCaprio, Winslet, Cameron or, somewhat strangely, historical tragedies. 6/10