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Trollheart · 02-19-2017, 05:31 PM

Verdict?

A pretty standard shark movie, something of a rip-off I believe of the far superior Open Water, with very little to recommend it. Acting is minimal, there are few surprises other than the “shock” ending, and basically I could have written this. Really quite poor. I found the characters thin and poorly-developed. The relationship between Luke and Kate was only hinted at, seemed very basic and was not fleshed out (pardon the pun: what do you mean, what pun?) and as for the other two: well they might as well not have been there for all they contributed to the story. They essentially became just two victims for the shark. Matt's speech after his legs have been eaten is far from authentic: he doesn't even give any real indication of being in pain, or that he knows he's going to die. It's more like he knows his part in the movie is over and is ready to go home. Suzie's reaction to his death is at least believable, if slightly over the top. And Warren, left behind, is forgotten about. His refusal to enter the sea leaves him watching, we assume, the shark circling the slowly-sinking yacht, but we never get any closure there, not that I care. But if you're going to introduce the idea of leaving one person behind on the boat, at least use it.

Here's what I thought would happen, for those who care: first, I thought Kate would remain on the boat with Warren. He, aware they are likely to die and having carried a torch for her for years, makes a move which she does not appreciate. She struggles with him, eventually pushing him off the boat as the shark swims by and GULP! That's the end of Warren. Or, he could come to the rescue at the end, having been picked up by rescuers, perhaps having sorted out that distress signal thing, and proving they should all have stayed where they were. Which, admittedly, would have made for a pretty dull film, but in the end what we experience is not much better.

I can't believe the minor accolades this film received, though I can believe the box-office return: the producers lost their shirts. Far from even recovering their costs, they made a measly 125K for a three million outlay, that's what? Less than a twelfth of their budget recouped? To me, as I already said, this was a bad bad rehash of Open Water, which was done so much better. Even while they're swimming to the island (or so they think; they're actually hopelessly lost) there's no conversation to expand the plot, such as it is, or open up the character development. It's mainly silence and the odd joke to lighten the mood, but there's very little there. Even the three deaths are kind of received with a certain philosophical resignation, not even horror or disbelief. To be honest, if they'd all been eaten, they would have deserved it.

And what about the poor rich fucker who ordered a boat he's now not going to receive? Has everyone forgotten him? He's the real victim here. Well, him and those of us who had to watch this shit.

Message in the Movie

None that I can see, unless it's don't let some idiot pilot the expensive yacht you're supposed to deliver, or else know your route: how could these idiots hit a reef? It's not like the damn things move!

Music

Music can make a movie, especially a shark one (remember the famous "attack" music in Jaws? but here I really don't see it. The music is very incidental; much of the time there is none, and even for the attack scenes it's kind of stock really. Nothing that stands out. Not terrible, but certainly not memorable.

Fact vs Fiction

Just a section where I'll quickly note whether the movie's writer was well informed on sharks or got all his or her plots from The Big Book of Sharks, which appears to be the case here. Anyone who knows anything about sharks knows that they don't keep attacking; they will try an exploratory bite, but humans are lacking in the blubber they prefer, so they don't like our taste. Why, then, did the shark keep attacking? Also, sharks scent blood in the water and it drives them into a frenzy, so why did not other sharks in the vicinity find their way there? No, this is a pure case of fiction.

Really only worth a poor

tl;dr

For those who can't be bothered wading (or perhaps I should say, given the subject, swimming their way through my walls of text, the movie summed up in four sentences. Yes, it really is that badly written. However, I will be trying this out on future reviews. Perhaps not all will be possible to encapsulate in four sentences, but I'll try to distill the essence of my review down to as few sentences as I can.
1. A guy sells boats for a living and has to deliver one to Indonesia, deciding to bring his friends along for the ride.
2. The boat hits something (a reef, we think, though this is never confirmed) and capsizes.
3. They swim for it (except one, who is left behind because he's too much of a nancy boy to mix it up with the sharks; we never find out his fate, nor do we care) hoping to make it to some island vaguely “over that way”.
4. Three of the four are eaten by a Great White Shark.

02-19-2017, 05:31 PM	#33 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,971	Verdict? A pretty standard shark movie, something of a rip-off I believe of the far superior Open Water, with very little to recommend it. Acting is minimal, there are few surprises other than the “shock” ending, and basically I could have written this. Really quite poor. I found the characters thin and poorly-developed. The relationship between Luke and Kate was only hinted at, seemed very basic and was not fleshed out (pardon the pun: what do you mean, what pun?) and as for the other two: well they might as well not have been there for all they contributed to the story. They essentially became just two victims for the shark. Matt's speech after his legs have been eaten is far from authentic: he doesn't even give any real indication of being in pain, or that he knows he's going to die. It's more like he knows his part in the movie is over and is ready to go home. Suzie's reaction to his death is at least believable, if slightly over the top. And Warren, left behind, is forgotten about. His refusal to enter the sea leaves him watching, we assume, the shark circling the slowly-sinking yacht, but we never get any closure there, not that I care. But if you're going to introduce the idea of leaving one person behind on the boat, at least use it. Here's what I thought would happen, for those who care: first, I thought Kate would remain on the boat with Warren. He, aware they are likely to die and having carried a torch for her for years, makes a move which she does not appreciate. She struggles with him, eventually pushing him off the boat as the shark swims by and GULP! That's the end of Warren. Or, he could come to the rescue at the end, having been picked up by rescuers, perhaps having sorted out that distress signal thing, and proving they should all have stayed where they were. Which, admittedly, would have made for a pretty dull film, but in the end what we experience is not much better. I can't believe the minor accolades this film received, though I can believe the box-office return: the producers lost their shirts. Far from even recovering their costs, they made a measly 125K for a three million outlay, that's what? Less than a twelfth of their budget recouped? To me, as I already said, this was a bad bad rehash of Open Water, which was done so much better. Even while they're swimming to the island (or so they think; they're actually hopelessly lost) there's no conversation to expand the plot, such as it is, or open up the character development. It's mainly silence and the odd joke to lighten the mood, but there's very little there. Even the three deaths are kind of received with a certain philosophical resignation, not even horror or disbelief. To be honest, if they'd all been eaten, they would have deserved it. And what about the poor rich fucker who ordered a boat he's now not going to receive? Has everyone forgotten him? He's the real victim here. Well, him and those of us who had to watch this shit. Message in the Movie None that I can see, unless it's don't let some idiot pilot the expensive yacht you're supposed to deliver, or else know your route: how could these idiots hit a reef? It's not like the damn things move! Music Music can make a movie, especially a shark one (remember the famous "attack" music in Jaws? but here I really don't see it. The music is very incidental; much of the time there is none, and even for the attack scenes it's kind of stock really. Nothing that stands out. Not terrible, but certainly not memorable. Fact vs Fiction Just a section where I'll quickly note whether the movie's writer was well informed on sharks or got all his or her plots from The Big Book of Sharks, which appears to be the case here. Anyone who knows anything about sharks knows that they don't keep attacking; they will try an exploratory bite, but humans are lacking in the blubber they prefer, so they don't like our taste. Why, then, did the shark keep attacking? Also, sharks scent blood in the water and it drives them into a frenzy, so why did not other sharks in the vicinity find their way there? No, this is a pure case of fiction. Really only worth a poor tl;dr For those who can't be bothered wading (or perhaps I should say, given the subject, swimming their way through my walls of text, the movie summed up in four sentences. Yes, it really is that badly written. However, I will be trying this out on future reviews. Perhaps not all will be possible to encapsulate in four sentences, but I'll try to distill the essence of my review down to as few sentences as I can. 1. A guy sells boats for a living and has to deliver one to Indonesia, deciding to bring his friends along for the ride. 2. The boat hits something (a reef, we think, though this is never confirmed) and capsizes. 3. They swim for it (except one, who is left behind because he's too much of a nancy boy to mix it up with the sharks; we never find out his fate, nor do we care) hoping to make it to some island vaguely “over that way”. 4. Three of the four are eaten by a Great White Shark. __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018 Last edited by Trollheart; 03-07-2017 at 05:21 PM.