Not much of it is credible, starting with the hiring of a rusty submarine out of Sevastopol, but it has action and adventure to burn, leavened with bits of humour.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Apr 9, 2015

Too often, moviegoers must choose between character-driven drama and edge-of-your-seat action. "Black Sea" has both, with a gripping performance by Jude Law as their nexus.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jan 31, 2015

Black Sea is a submarine thriller set in the murky depths of exactly where the title says.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jan 31, 2015

By no means a masterpiece, but a solid genre offering, a portrait of desperate men crammed together and surrounded on all sides by what one describes as "dark, cold death." What better way to escape the midwinter doldrums?

| Jan 30, 2015

I'm something of a sucker for submarine-movie clichs; watching this movie, I was happy the very first time I heard a disconcerting ping.

| Original Score: B | Jan 30, 2015

A contemporary submarine thriller that serves the genre well.

| Jan 30, 2015

As the perils mount, a certain momentum takes hold, though never quite enough to justify taking up two hours' space in your life.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Jan 30, 2015

In the end, "Black Sea" is a taut warning about the evil allure of greed. It also makes clear why vacationing on submarines has never caught on.

| Original Score: B | Jan 30, 2015

The fundamentals of the story and that irresistibly cramped and isolated setting keep the tension level high.

| Original Score: B- | Jan 29, 2015

While the film doesn't cut nearly as deep as [the director's] The Last King of Scotland, it's nevertheless a suspenseful, taut thriller with political undertones that delivers on its low-key promises.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jan 29, 2015

You walk away from the film with the niggling sense that the story never quite holds your attention the way it should.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Jan 29, 2015

A sturdy little adventure, even when it goes enjoyably off-kilter in its last half-hour.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Jan 29, 2015

Screenwriter Dennis Kelly infuses all this with a heavy dose of proletarian rage, and Law exudes enough charisma in the lead role to supply the movie with one marginally likable character.

| Jan 29, 2015

Handled artfully by Macdonald, whose earlier work includes "The Last King of Scotland," Dennis Kelly's script pulls bits and pieces from "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre," "The Wages of Fear" and its remake, "Sorcerer."

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jan 29, 2015

The film's patina of richly textured grime lends the film a gloomy, claustrophobic beauty that serves its mood, as well as its satisfyingly misanthropic message ...

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jan 29, 2015

Some of the particulars don't add up, so much so that you do notice them even as the action plows forward. But it's still a thrilling ride.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jan 29, 2015

Black Sea doesn't delve too far below the surface, but it is claustrophobic, compelling and suspenseful.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jan 29, 2015

"Black Sea" is a good movie; Law turns in a great performance, and one walks away feeling that the characters and the scenery here are all convincing.

| Jan 28, 2015

Walking out of the theater, you might well get the bends.

| Jan 23, 2015

Jude Law makes for an effective rogue submarine captain in "Black Sea," a fittingly immersive thriller, tautly directed by Kevin MacDonald.

| Jan 22, 2015