大象传媒

Storms hit the UK in Flood, a formulaic disaster movie set in London. When it looks like the Thames barrier won't hold, meteorological obsessive Leonard (Tom Courtenay) is proved right, and must help the Deputy PM (David Suchet) and Crisis Control chief Patricia Nash (Joanne Whalley) save lives. Estranged son Rob (Robert Carlyle) and his ex wife Sam (Jessalyn Gilsig) come along for the ride in this predictable but watchable actioner, mixing flood documentary footage with visual effects.

Before sneaking into a lone London cinema, Flood already aired as a mini-series in New Zealand, which gives you an idea of the tone. A sensational melodrama warning about potential future disasters, it has enough action to entertain despite the wooden dialogue (everyone speaks v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y, presumably so Americans can understand them). Nobody seems sufficiently panicked about the upcoming threat (David Suchet just mops his brow occasionally), but it's hard not to get drawn in when familiar London landmarks start becoming submerged, and our heroes must use all their cunning to escape from flooding tube stations and reach high, dry land.

"AN AMERICAN DISASTER MOVIE ON SODDEN BRITISH SOIL"

Drawing more from films like The Day After Tomorrow and Armageddon than 28 Weeks Later, Flood feels like a low-budget American disaster movie on rather sodden British soil. Heart-wrenching sacrifices must be made, old family wounds must be healed, and pretty girls must be saved. But much like the aforementioned Hollywood blockbusters, Flood is a workable, sometimes suspenseful action movie, even if it does feel more suited to its small-screen origins.

Flood is out in the UK on 24th August 2007.