In The Heart of the Sea (2015), PG-13, ★★1/2

Wait, where's your hammer, Thor? A whale's out there.

There are not many movies about whaling that wants to keep audiences afloat but combining the spectacle and storytelling is a challenge because we pay so much attention to the cinematography and visual panache that is both eccentric and alive. However, sailors, in particular, have a dangerous job of trying to catch fish and whales but also have a disgusting task of taking out the guts and blood. Plus, the only risk, in my mind right now, is that you cannot be sea sick, otherwise, why do you take the job? However, this movie is a stunning visual experience that is sumptuous and luminously crafted, but the character development and narrative is thin that it becomes an incomplete experience to behold.

In 1820, veteran whaler Owen Chase (Chris Hemsworth) is the first officer aboard the Essex. He finds out and is pleased to hear that his second officer is Matthew Joy (Cillian Murphy), an old friend. The ship's captain is an inexperienced whaler named George Pollard Jr. (Benjamin Walker). During their voyage, they find 14-year-old Thomas Nickerson (Tom Holland) and hoists him to cure his seasickness.

Chase is quite popular and skillful and acquainted with the crew that it envies Pollard to become a better captain and to live up to his family name. The bitter relationship is proven when Pollard ignore's Chase's orders to not sail into the storm whereas, in fact, he does, risking the lives of the crew. Shaken by his ordeal, Pollard wanted to return home but Chase warns him that both their reputations will be at risk if returning without a profit.

When speaking to a Spanish captain about the undisturbed breeding ground 1,000 miles to the west, the Captain mentions to Chase, Joy and Pollard that there is a white whale out there that attacked his own crew. Unfortunately lucky with their limited catch, Pollard sails out there to hunt the whale despite the crew's objections. Chase is initially anxious as they see the whale. But, he attempts to hunt and harpoon the whale but its strength is baffling and massive that it destroys the main mast and kills two men. No wonder he is pissed. Hahaha.

Call me Ishmael!

This is one of the most stunning movies of the year in terms of how the cinematographer, Anthony Dod Mantle, from Danny Boyle's films, photographs and films the stunning ocean sequences like a luminescent and crystal-clear 19th-century portrait. The movie's cinematography endures the peril and adventure the sailors go through to capture the massive beast. Plus, the currents and camera movement illustrates the motions and sheerness the sailors go through to do their job and go on an exciting adventure. Even though, it is a bit distracting with the camera-shaking, the motion is relevant to the sailor's emotions to go on that risky adventure.

This is the weakness of the movie: the cast and the character developments. Chris Hemsworth is a very good actor, however, he provides a one-dimensional role as his background is strong and sheerness and proud to be a sailor. He does not have as much mentality to become a complex sailor character and does not have as much motivation to capture it. He is ordered to do so. Plus, he performs a very distracting and awful Bostonian accent. Cillian Murphy, Benjamin Walker and Tom Holland are fine but they lack the distinctiveness that makes them to become particularly interesting characters.

Even though it is a fun special-effects oceanic adventure, Ron Howard, the director misses the mark of establishing interesting characters in hair-raising situations and cooperation. He has done that particularly well by establishing non-fictional and fictional characters with those situations with many of his movies: Apollo 13, Ransom, Backdraft and Cocoon. Plus, the majority of the second half becomes a bit dreary and not as exciting as sailors are drifting out to sea. The action sequences and majestic production design and cinematography are poetic and mesmerizing to look at but the characters and thin narrative is what prevents it to become something special.

**1/2