Brought to you by the directors of Free Solo, so intended or not this is posited as a superhuman demonstration of skill and fortitude by those whose adeptness as such physical feats is seemingly commensurate with their indifference to the feelings of other people. This characteristic (which more clearly describes Alex Honnold in the former film) is explored only superficially, and the thesis is something like: I'm able to dive into a two-mile cavern submerged in brown opaque water and…

For the first third or so this is ominous and self-serious in the tradition characteristic of all cerebral sci-fi movies, which permits a precariously narrow margin of error. So when a line of dialogue is delivered amusingly, or the appearance of a CGI creature isn’t convincingly material enough, the laughter that follows is concentrated because it’s been stifled for the time leading up to it—because up until this moment you don’t know if it’s going to fall on the side…