
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, July 29, 1995                   TAG: 9508010005
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: B-10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MIKE MAYO CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

`WATERWORLD' IS AWASH IN FUN

Forget all of the stories about the budget of "Waterworld," by some accounts the most expensive movie ever made. The only dollar amount filmgoers ought to care about is the price of a ticket. Is the movie worth $5-6?

The answer: Yes, for those who like quickly paced, lightweight summer adventure. Kevin Costner fans looking for another "Dances With Wolves" will be disappointed; Costner fans looking for another "Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves" won't.

"Waterworld" has the same director, Kevin Reynolds, and the same weaknesses and strengths: an unoriginal premise and plot that sails across the screen with an entertaining, energetic visual style.

Our setting is the now-familiar post-apocalyptic future, but instead of the ``Road Warrior's'' desert, it's a seemingly endless ocean. The polar icecaps have melted; plain old dirt is the new gold standard; and "Dryland" is a possibly mythical paradise.

The Mariner (Costner) is a "drifter" who sails around in an incredibly neat trimaran. He's your basic bad-attitude loner, Mad Max with webbed toes. He arrives at a settlement called the Atoll just in time for an attack by "Smokers," outlaws on jet skis who are led by Deacon (Dennis Hopper, at his villainous best).

Writers Peter Rader and David Twohy freely borrow other plot elements from "The Road Warrior." In place of the autogyro captain there's Gregor (Michael Jeter), and filling in for the feral child is Enola (Tina Majorino), who has a map to "Dryland" tattooed on her back. Helen (Jeanne Tripplehorn), Enola's fetching foster mom, doesn't have a counterpart, and so the writers don't quite know what to do with her character.

In fact, whenever the storyline strays from the streamlined plot of "The Road Warrior" (bad guys attack civilization; bad guys leave; hero goes after them), it runs into rough seas. There are some impressive moments, notably one grand underwater special effects scene, but others in this two-hour-plus voyage seem almost pointless.

Director Reynolds seems most comfortable when things are moving, and the big scenes when the trimaran is speeding across the water are the best in the film. Oddly, the battle scenes are less effective. With their guns and ramps and water skiers, those call up images of "Mad Max Goes to Cyprus Gardens" and verge on unintentional comedy. For his part, Dennis Hopper provides some wickedly funny intentional comedy. He's got such good lines to work with that he doesn't even ham it up much.

In the end, weighing the good against the bad, "Waterworld" comes up a winner. The flaws really don't mean much in such frivolous escapism. This is the kind of movie that's best enjoyed with an extra-large popcorn and a big soft drink in an arctically air-conditioned theater.

Waterworld

***

A Universal release playing at Salem Valley 8, Valley View 6. 127 min. Rated PG-13 for violence, strong language, brief nudity.

by CNB