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DEEP
BLUE SEA
review by Joe Mauceri
A The classic theme of science messing with nature for the good of humanity. This time out it's sharks. At a submarine refueling station converted into a science lab, a group of scientists has enlarged the brains of three great white sharks. You can easily figure out the rest. This R-rated film opens with a catamaran, filled with four sumptuous young morsels on board, getting attacked by a "smart" shark, and not one of them gets a scratch. Not even when they all fall overboard! Could it possibly be that this shark was too smart for his own good? It was probably deliberating between male and female, and that's when the film's hero can get a harpoon into it. Some times one can be too smart for ones own good. The plot for DEEP BLUE SEA is predictable and drawn out. The screenplay borrows literary themes from Melville to Shelly, and cinematically from "Jaws" to "Alien."The only redeeming plot point is that all those involved with the experiment become shark chow. (I'm sorry if I spoiled it for you, but am I really giving anything away here?) Most of the action and suspense are typical and derivative of other genre movies. The setup for Samuel Jackson's character's death is so predictable and drawn out as to be laughable. You can see it coming from a mile away. There's another scene where the cast is standing in font of a submerged cracking window, and they just stand there as it slowly cracks. The cast... acts. That's about it. In fact that acting and direction are so bad that LL Cool J emerges as the best actor in the film. They kill Samuel Jackson not even halfway through, which must have something to do with budgetary concerns. The last time I saw Saffron Burrows act was in "Wing Commander," and her performance was as bad and stiff. You get the impression that she was cast more because she looks like the director's exwife, Genna Davis, then her abilities as an actress. Too much of this film simply makes no sense, and could have ben shot better. Director Renny Harlin never uses the sinister, menacing nature of these creatures to the film's advantage. He shows the sharks capable in certain ways, but dumb in other regards. He gives us a few shots where the sharks lurking beneath the surface, but never enough to give them stealth or a sneaky quality. A few shots feel as if they are from the sharks point of view, but they never payoff and lack bunch. He shows the sharks as vicious, and their wrath is brutal. Harlin shows the horrific end of his characters. However, it is all C.G.I. rendered because the sharks are C.G.I. The C.G.I work in the DEEP BLUE SEA is uneven. There are times when it is almost believable, and often you perceive that computer feel/texture. The worst shot it the film is a shark bearing its teeth. It has this three-pronged switchblade action that is way over the top and just not believable. Something about the style and movement of the C.G.I. work in DEEP BLUE SEA feels as if the studio pirated the work Blue Sky Studio developed for "Alien: Resurrection." If you are looking for a piece of mindless entertainment to escape the heat of a summer's day, DEEP BLUE SEA will surely sink your boat. Or is that float your boat? OFFICIAL WEB SITE: |
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