Water will burn in the new disaster thriller The Burning Sea, the latest entertaining flick from the writer behind The Wave and the director of The Quake. 

Former protagonist Kristian, having survived an epic tsunami and city-destroying earthquake, gets a well-deserved break this time around. Replacing him is submersible technicians Sofia (Kristine Kujath Thorp) and Arthur (Rolf Kristian Larsen), who set out to save Sofia’s boyfriend after Norway’s offshore oil drilling causes catastrophic ruptures in the seafloor to open and putting all of northern Europe at risk.

If you liked The Wave and The Quake, you’ll enjoy The Burning Sea, which looks and feels very similar to those aforementioned pictures. Unlike the bombastic action-disaster movies you see from Hollywood, The Burning Sea, like its predecessors, is content handing audiences some fairly standard protagonists, semi-grounded storytelling, and enjoyable disaster sequences.

Having burned through the expected natural disasters (though we have yet to see a Scandinavian version of Twister), The Burning Sea is a little sillier in concept than its predecessors, though director John Andreas Anderson treats things seriously and with modesty. The movie boasts the best special effects of the three films, however; a few of the disaster sequences are harrowing and gorgeous to watch, even if Sea doesn’t have the budget of its Hollywood counterparts.

Thorp and Larsen, as well as the supporting cast, are all more than adequate, though they lack the nerdy intensity that Kristoffer Joner brought to the “franchise,” if you can call it that. The movie itself feels a bit more muted than its predecessors, too, even though the movie is spotted with more action and spectacle.

Still, having just suffered through the dreadful Moonfall–from disaster king Roland Emmerich, no less–The Burning Sea serves as a pleasant alternative. With solid special effects, some exciting disaster sequences, and a semi-credible, climate-driven premise, The Burning Sea is worth seeing.

Review by Erik Samdahl unless otherwise indicated.