Sisters Lisa and Kate (Mandy Moore and Claire Holt) are having a dream vacation in Mexico. Kate needs to blow off some steam as her boyfriend just broke up with her because he found her to be “boring.” Wanting to prove him wrong, the girls decide to try something exciting; cage diving with great white sharks. It’s a great thrill until the rusty cage they are in detaches from the boat and plunges down to the ocean floor. Now, not only do they have a limited supply of air and 47 meters between them and the surface, there are also all those sharks looking for their next meal.
(Reviewed by our guest critic: The Movie Knight.) There’s no doubt this movie is a great pitch: two young women trapped on the ocean floor in a cage. Even without the sharks, it could be a good ride, given they are on the clock before their tanks deplete.
Johannes Roberts is the co-writer and director of this tale and he does have a number of non-memorable, low-budget horror movies under his belt. He should have been able to take the next step in his career with this offering. That didn’t happen….
What is one of the main elements people come to see from a shark movie? People getting eaten by sharks! There is an old saying that goes, whenever we enter the ocean, we enter the food chain. No spoilers on how many people perish or who they are, but when it does, it’s just lame. I wish I could use a better word, but when all you see are a bunch of bubbles and maybe some blood, lame pretty much sums it up. Look at last year’s The Shallows. You had one shot of the shark diving out of the water to get someone and there was one that happened off screen where all you saw was Blake Lively’s reaction to the horror, and it was effective.
This is not to suggest there are no thrills. There are moments of tension and there are some fun scares to go along with them. When those sharks come along, you’ll probably jump. This might be enough for people looking for that kind of entertainment and they may feel they got their money’s worth. They may even be able to overlook that the sharks do often look like digital creations.
When any movie about a shark comes out you will inevitably see an advertisement that claims, “Best shark movie since Jaws!” Or, blasphemy, “Better than Jaws!” Come back from sea level! While having some entertainment value, 47 Meters Down doesn’t even deserve to be mentioned in the same breath.
2 Tiaras.