Taking a break from Sharknado, our 10th movie in this series is 47 Meters Down. This one is a lot different from the others: instead of being just a shark getting folks at the beach (or on land as in Sharknado), these are people who intentionally lower themselves into the water to look at the sharks.
The movie is a pair of sisters on vacation in Mexico, and one is dealing with being dumped for being boring. To combat that, her crazy sister decides they should get into a cage and be surrounded by sharks, on the boat rented by some men they meet in Mexico and barely know. Trouble obviously ensues. Spoilers follow.
The sisters get stuck underwater and the movie then goes into time-limit mode: they have a limited supply of oxygen, and they can’t leave the cage without risking getting eaten by the surprising number of massive great whites hanging out down there in the dark. At some points they do leave the cage, though, and until the end they’re relatively safe doing that. So, I don’t know, maybe they should have tried that to start with…
I have a few problems with the concept of the movie: anyone who would look at the boat and equipment they use… and still get in that cage… well, Darwin awards are still a thing. I wouldn’t even get on that boat. The odd behavior of Javier (who later becomes our first shark death) is even more off-putting. No, thank you. I’d rather be boring and alive.
This is barely a shark movie. It’s got a somewhat original idea but it doesn’t really fit with the type of movies so far. It’s more of a suspense and waiting game. There’s just not a lot of shark time, and it follows some pretty obvious beats. That’s not necessarily bad, it just makes it less fun to watch. Every twist was kind of obvious, including the big and annoying “fuck you” twist at the end. They did set it up, but it was meh.
Overall, it’s not a bad movie. It’s not a great movie. It’s just kinda there. Matthew Modine is the only face I recognized (and aside from seeing Bob & Harvey Weinstein listed right up front, nobody else stood out at all), and his character both was the most interesting and survived, so there’s some potential there.
Report Card:
Running Time: An hour and twenty-nine minutes.
Shark Death Total: Two.
Acting: It’s all right.
Shark Effects: Pretty damn good.
Gun Use: No guns used or misused.
Gore: Not really.
Creepy? Somewhat.
Funny? No.
Nudity: No.
Pacing: It’s a little slow.
