Ah, the Bahamas... For the first time declared himself as a director John Stockwell (before that he was engaged exclusively in acting) in 2001, the year, filming the drama “Mad and Beautiful” with Kirsten Dunst in the title role. The film received mixed reviews, but still received more positive reviews. The following year, he submitted his new film, in which he was responsible for the production, called Blue Wave in the genre of sports drama with Kate Bosworth and Michelle Rodriguez in the lead roles. The film was not received with admiration by critics, but it was marked by two nominations of the youth TV channel MTV. And, apparently, the sea, its vast expanses, the boundless depth and beauty of azure, so captured John Stockwell that in 2005 he returned to this theme, filming the adventure thriller "Into the Blue" ("In blue" (meaning the color of the sea!)), translated for our rental as "Welcome to Paradise!", in which he involved actors such as Paul Walker and Jessica Alba.
In the case of the domestic translation of the name here we can agree. The action takes place near the Bahamas, which many, even those who have not been there, are associated with Paradise on Earth. Almost all seasons of the year are beautiful weather, and enticing many tourists who are ready to share their earnings during the holidays. But a small number of inhabitants of the Bahamas just live on this money, entertaining tourists in all kinds of ways. Here, for example, is a diving instructor, and a handsome man with blue eyes like the color of the Ocean. And in the local water park works his stunning girlfriend Samantha, whom everyone calls for short Sam (Alba). They are a beautiful, loving couple, but they do not yet know that the underwater discovery of a crashed plane, stuffed with drugs, and the arrival of Jared’s longtime friend Bryce (Scott Caan) with a newfound passion Amanda (Ashley Scott) will lead them to a serene life in a deadly adventure, where their lives will be put on the scales, where the crashed plane with drugs swings opposite.
The film is replete with colorful, succulent, eye-catching field shots of stunning landscapes of the Bahamas and the Ocean around them. The viewer, along with the main characters of the film, will visit the inside of underground grottoes, pamper in the waters of the lagoons, roast in the bright sun of the paradise islands. All of this, again, is beautiful. So did Paul Walker and Jessica Alba, who were sure to attract the audience, multiplying it at least twice. After all, Walker’s pumped torso and charming smile with a charming languid look are effective tools for the female part of the potential audience to reach for viewing. But often (how often, almost always!) Jessica Alba in this film defiles in a bikini swimsuit. To whom this calculation was directed, I think everyone has long since guessed. Especially since I myself belong to the male half of humanity (here should be a smiling smiley). But that's all great, but that wasn't the main thing, and in Welcome to Paradise, dangerous adventures were the main factor.
And this is what happened. Adventures – they are, dangerous – of course, dynamic – and this cannot be taken away, but the tension, the feeling that makes you hold your breath from the drive and adrenaline, comes out very difficult in the picture. “Welcome to Paradise!” is a perfect indicator of the well-established truth about the “Wonderful Package”, under which the “Dumb”. And as the actors did not try to make the film finally appear adrenaline, the “engine” of this effect started, started, puffed, puffed, towed, towed, but still did not gain momentum. And this is only the fault of the director who failed to bring the plan to the desired level. At the same time, we can not say that everything is so bad with the drive in the picture, it still exists, but not as we would like. And another disadvantage of the film is its too banal antagonists, some of them are too ordinary, you do not feel hatred for them, but the bandits raised their hand on the beautiful Jessica Alba! How dare they! You could shout like that, but somehow the spirit of terrible danger from the scoundrels did not come. Some of them have come out.
With all the visual colorfulness of the film “Welcome to Paradise!”, it was not without obvious flaws, but they were all trying to smooth out the actors who were very trying for this film. And it is this picture that does not give a confident estimate of him, fluctuating somewhere in the range of 6.5 - and if such would undoubtedly put it. After a little thought, I decided that the review will still be positive for the entertainment and actors, but the overall assessment is as follows:
6 out of 10