Submerged (2005)

Submerged (2005)
aka: Enemy Within

 

Starring: Steven Seagal, Christine Adams, William Hope, Vinnie Jones, Gary Daniels, Nick Brimble, Alison King
Director: Anthony Hickox
Action Director: Steve Griffin, George Karlukovski

Although the title and cover art point to a conspiracy thriller set on a submarine (think Crimson Tide or The Hunt for Red October), those actually are a bait and switch for what is actually a political thriller in the vein of The Manchurian Candidate. Considering Seagal’s track record up to this point in ripping off other, better movies, it shouldn’t be surprising that a remake of the 1962 classic with Frank Sinatra saw release in theaters that very year. Obviously, one would be foolish to expect a whole lot from a movie like this, and while it occasionally has a bit of low-budget charm, it also feels more like a violent, feature-length episode of “G.I. Joe” than a taut political thriller.

The film opens in Uruguay (played by Bulgaria), where a drone sent by the US embassy discovers a hidden military base housed within a dam. The soldiers running the place are a bit spooked to know that the Americans have found out about the place, but the mysterious Dr. Lehder (Nick Brimble, of Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and A Knight’s Tale) isn’t worried: he presses a few buttons on his cell phone and suddenly the Secret Servicemen in the embassy gun down everybody present before blowing their own heads off.

Shortly thereafter, the U.S. military sends in a team to blow up the base. However, a psychotic episode by team leader Sharpe (Gary Daniels, of Tekken and City Hunter) results in the team getting gunned down and the survivors getting captured. With their backs against the wall, the military turns to Cody (Seagal), a former mercenary jailed by his former employers because of their own screw-up. Cody and his team, including Vinnie Jones (Juggernaut from X-Men: The Last Stand), are offered a financial reward and a clean slate if they blow up the base. They are joined by Dr. Chappell (Christine Adams, of Agents of SHIELD and Black Lightning), a psychologist working in the government’s employ.

Despite the opposition from a small army of Uruguayan soldiers, the mercenaries are successful. They destroy the dam and rescue Sharpe and a few of his teammates, making their escape in a commandeered submarine. Unfortunately, Sharpe and his men have been brainwashed by Lehder, and soon our heroes are fighting for their lives from a bunch of crazed soldiers in an obsolete water vessel with the American Navy trying to kill them as well.

One may think that given the synopsis above, the film will largely be about our heroes’ travails while aboard a submarine. Not really. The submarine sequence accounts only for the second act; the original title of The Enemy Within better describes the film as a whole. The idea of regular people—or even government agents—being captured and brainwashed into becoming sleeper agents is unnerving. Given that director Anthony Hickox was first as foremost a horror director, that actually makes a lot of sense. Hickox is best known for the 80s film Waxwork and its sequel, both of which were homages to old school horror movies, especially Universal and Hammer films. He also directed the third Hellraiser installment and the sequel to Warlock before moving onto more uninspired fare.

While there are some moments of genuine suspense, the variable nature of the brainwashing deflates much of the tension. The film implies that the process involves forcing the subject to watch different images, which become ingrained in his (or her) mind. Said images allow for the controller to give hypnotic suggestions to the person. But that is where things get fuzzy. In the beginning, the film suggests that the suggestions are given early on and subsequently triggered by a stimulus, like an image on a cell phone. Later on, Dr. Lehder has to verbally guide one of his subjects to carry out his commands. In some cases, regular people become sleeper agents and react without any trigger whatsoever. A more consistent approach to the plot device would have been better.

It also would have been better if there was more and better action. People looking for your typical fix of Seagal aikido will no doubt be disappointed. The first fight comes about halfway through, where he throws down with British martial artist Gary Daniels, best known for dressing up as Street Fighter II’s Ken in the Jackie Chan film City Hunter. Daniels had also made a name for himself in numerous low-budget, high-octane B-movies, like Rage, Recoil, and the live-action adaptation of Fist of the North Star. Daniels is a great martial artist, and reported mounted a long and elaborate fight against Seagal alongside stunt coordinator Steve Griffin (F9: The Fast Saga and Solo: A Star Wars Story). Then Seagal got his sweaty mitts on it and choreographed a 30-second, one-sided fight in which he throws Daniels around for a while before stabbing him with a kitchen knife.

There are some decent car stunts in the action, plus a couple of okay shootouts. Seagal’s signature weapon in here is a 12-gauge shotgun, which is a nice change of pace from his usual pistol branding. In one very silly scene, however, Seagal and his men are in a tunnel, standing in front of a few dozen men armed with AK-47s and mowing them down while the soldiers fail to score a single hit on the good guys. That particular scene really took me out of the action.

Apparently Seagal and director Hickox did not get along, which resulted in Seagal walking off the project. While his absence is not noted in the film itself, it is pretty obvious that he missed more than half of the looping sessions, because his character’s voice jumps back and forth between Seagal’s real voice and that of another actor. Back to the cartoon comparison, it’s like an episode of the early 90s “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” cartoon whenever the voice actors got confused and the result was Michealangelo’s voice coming out of Leonardo. It cheapens the entire production, which was already suffering from problems in both the script and action direction.