INTO THE BLUE begins with a plane that crashes into ocean in the Bahamas during a hurricane.  As a result, treasure hunter Jared Cole (Paul Walker), his girl, Sam (Jessica Alba) and friends Bryce (Scott Caan) and Amanda (Ashley Scott) uncover a stash of coke – the cargo the plane was carrying.  Trouble ensues when the drug lords demand Jared et al. bring back their white treasure.  If the plot appears simplistic enough, INTO THE BLUE is an action pic, which means that as long as viewers are provided lots of pyrotechnics, lots of explosions, killings and skin, all will be happy. In addition, director John Stockwell dishes out sufficient distractions of silly jokes (Santa is coming with coke) and plenty of skin (both male and female).

But Stockwell, (himself a longtime surfer and director of two relatively unheard of films BLUE CRUSH and CRAZY/BEAUTIFUL) is uncertain where to take the film. Though INTO THE BLUE is foremost an action flick, it hardly contains any edge of the seat fight scenes or extended action sequences comparable to the summer films like THE ISLAND or even THE CAVE. The climatic confrontation between the heroine and a villain looks like something out of an old horror movie – guy chasing scantily clad Alba. Stockwell emphasizes the buddy (between Bryce and Jared) component of the story, giving the film an uneven mix.

All logic goes out the window during the underwater sequences.  For one, it is highly improbably that two balloons can tug a 2000 pound solid cannon from the depths of the ocean.  Midway during the film, all the dialogue (jokes, grunts and all) of the underwater divers way under so many feet of water can be heard in full clarity of the film’s soundtrack.  The underwater sequences are otherwise well executed and the shark attack scenes are the only ones that give INTO THE BLUE some genuine chills.

The final words that flash on the screen at the film’s end stating that the world’s oceans now hold over $60 billion in treasures appear only to emphasize the mockery of both its truth and the film’s theme.