PLOT: A group of international passengers en route from Los Angeles to Shanghai are forced to make an emergency landing in shark-infested waters. Now they must work together in hopes to overcome the frenzy of sharks drawn to the wreckage.
REVIEW: Outside of Jaws, I’m not sure if there’s any shark movie I’ve seen as much as Deep Blue Sea. It’s the perfect blend of popcorn entertainment and thrills, and always a great time with friends. Now that Renny Harlin is back in the director’s chair for another shark thriller, it’s easy to get excited. But is Deep Water the same level of campy, or does it take itself too seriously?
Deep Water follows a flight from Los Angeles to Shanghai and the many people on board. When a piece of luggage explodes, it sets off a series of events that causes the plane to crash into the ocean. As if things couldn’t get worse, the survivors must then contend with ravenous sharks. It’s a pretty simple setup, but sometimes simplicity is the way to go. Aaron Eckhart is our lead, though this definitely follows the ensemble formula. Ben Kingsley also shows up but gets about as much screentime as you would expect.
One thing that Deep Water does very well is give us a slew of characters that we can’t wait to see die. From a douchebag jock to the man who causes the plane crash, there are plenty of people you want to see get eaten by a shark. Only, it’s mostly just undeserving people getting chomped on. Why set up such unlikable people, and not take them all out? There are also so many different characters introduced that it can actually be a little difficult to figure out who’s going to die and when. That makes it fun, as there were definitely some people that I expected to live who died, and vice versa. Obviously, a ton perish during the crash itself, but the sharks take many more, but it’s not always who you expect.
No one really stands out, outside of Eckhart and one of the flight attendants, and with such an ensemble, they often blur together. It doesn’t help that the two kids in this movie are among the dumbest people ever to walk this earth. They are constantly putting themselves in danger and seem absolutely oblivious to the situation they’re actually in. I get that they’re kids, but they’re doing little more than crying and making things more dangerous for those around them. They also have an unintentionally hilarious arc in the film.
Those expecting massive shark action should probably temper those expectations, as the sharks don’t actually show up until nearly 50 minutes into the film. It’s honestly quite impressive how long Harlin is able to hold back. This is really a disaster film at its heart; it just happens to have sharks in the second half. Some may get frustrated at how much time is spent building up to the sharks but once the cat is out of the bag, we see them a decent amount. They don’t look half bad but they behave like movie sharks, where they’re faster than any sharks alive, and never seem to get full. We get more and more with each scene, and they can get a bit ridiculous. Sometimes less is more, as proven by last year’s phenomenal shark film, Beast of War.
In terms of the FX work, it’s quite a mixed bag. There are times where things look quite impressive and other times where you can feel the smaller budget. And it’s hard not to notice the greenscreen, which stands out in nearly every shot. Meanwhile, the plane crash is extremely impressive, and looks like something out of a Final Destination with everything getting progressively worse for those on board. Sometimes FX work can be hard to judge on a screener, so I’m curious as to how this sequence will look on the big screen.
I consider myself to be a Renny Harlin fan, so I’ll always check out a new film of his. While The Strangers trilogy was a disappointment, Deep Water shows that you can’t entirely count him out. He still provides some thrilling sequences and entertaining set pieces. There were six different screenwriters credited here and, as such, it can feel like a cobbled together story. The emotional beats are often corny and it’s hard to care about any of these people. It doesn’t help that so much backstory is done through expositional dialogue. The deaths themselves are pretty underwhelming too, with so many happening in a flash, and several dying offscreen.
There are some surprisingly heartwarming moments, like an older lady making a video for her granddaughter in the face of tragedy or another accepting his tragic fate. Though it goes a little overboard (no pun intended) at points, especially during the crash, which gets very melodramatic with its choice of music. Going schlockier probably would have helped out overall, but I see what they were going for.
While Deep Water really wasn’t what I was expecting it to be, there are certainly some enjoyable elements. Take away the sharks, and there’s a pretty intriguing story of a plane crash. The sharks just add a bit of hokiness and absurdity. This clashes a bit with the strange melodrama that pops up here and there, and the film loses a bit of its identity in the process. It was nice to see Harlin get to do some bigger action set pieces again but you really need to turn your brain off when it comes to logic. Go in with appropriate expectations and there’s some fun to be had.
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