"Sahara" should work. The Breck Eisner-directed adventure film boasts Matthew McConaughey exhibiting classic leading man chops, a story communicating life-and-death stakes, and a cinematic dynamic trumpeting a James Bond-meets-Indiana Jones sensibility. The ingredients for the next great adventure film are all there, but they result in something strangely uninteresting. The parts may shine, but the sum is lackluster.
Starring McConaughey as Clive Cussler's adventurer, Dirk Pitt, "Sahara" follows Pitt and comrades on on odyssey involving Civil War-era shipwrecks, African plagues, and general derring-do. The plot combines an audacious hodge-podge of elements and easily retains the treasure-hunting, techno-adventuresome spirit of Cussler's novels.
Unfortunately, that story is executed with such a vanilla cinematic energy that what should enchant and excite falls flat.…