Direct To DVD: "Mar Rojo (Red Sea)"

Mar Rojo
English Title: Red Sea
Year: 2008
Director: Enrique Alberich
Stars: Maribel Verdu, Alex Brendemuhl, Lucinano Fedrico
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Studio: Maverick Home Entertainment
Running Time: 91 Mins
Language: Spanish with English Subtitles
Review Rating: 3.5 Stars

Mar Rojo is about a stripper (Maribel Verdu) who hates hates her job, then one day she finds a million euros that were stolen in a botched bank robbery right on her lap. She then has to go on the run when a group of bad guys want the money for themselves. The woman realizes that having that money can be very dangerous. In order to get out of this mess alive, she must live a life of secrets, murder and hiding, while keeping the money for herself.

After being tortured, with the last two films (Joke’l: the Curse of the Weeping Woman, Mad Bad) that I’ve reviewed from Maverick Home Entertainment, I had little expectations with this film even though that the film stared the very talented Maribel Verdu, who was in both Pan’s Labyrith and Y Tu Mama Tiembien. Surprisingly this was a nice little drama.

Mar Rojo is a very entertaining thriller. Director, Enrique Alberich’s direction was good. I liked how, he keeps the pace of the film movie while creating a dark and bleak tone to it. He maintains that, by making the film’s dark tone consistent though out, as doesn’t turns this into one of those shoot em up films. One of the strong points of the film was Alberich’s direction of the actors. He’s very good at making sure that the performances stay accordingly to the film’s dark tone. Maribel Verdu turns in a very good performance here, not her best but still good. I liked how she was able to make her character interesting by making he character feel like someone, who is having a hard time to survive, by doing a job that she doesn’t like and being on the run from the people who want that money badly.

The screenplay written by Joan Miguel Hernandez Gascon and Juan M. Hernandez Gascon was a little surprising, as I was expecting more of an action film instead of a drama, but still it was good. I liked how they opted to use more storytelling instead of writing a script where there’s a lot of action. It helps go into the characters, instead of just blowing things up, which they could have choose, but luckily opted for more development. The character development was for the most part good. The screenwriters do a good job focusing on the main characters struggles and the relationship between her and the restaurant owner that persists within the film. The screenplay also had some interesting subplots that helped keep my interest, when the action lacked.

Mar Rojo is a dark and sexy thriller that has good performances and a story that keeps the suspense up.

DVD Extras:

Trailers