The Shallows (2016)
Genre: Thriller
Certification: 12
Duration: 86 minutes
Directed by: Jaume Collet-Serra
Starring: Blake Lively, Brett Cullen, Sedona Legge, Janelle Bailey
KRS Releasing Ltd

Years after the last films about a shark attack story (Dark Tide, and Bait 3D, 2012), comes The Shallows, a survival horror thriller by Spanish film director and producer Jaume Collet-Serra (Orphan, House of Wax, Run All Night).

The protagonist is Blake Lively, perhaps best known for her role in TV series Gossip Girl. Here she plays Nancy Adams, a medical student who is still reeling from the loss of her mother. She travels to a secluded beach for some much-needed solace and despite the possible dangers, she decides to surf alone.

Suddenly, a great white shark attacks, forcing her to swim to a giant rock for safety. Left injured and stranded 200 metres from the shore, the frightened girl must fight for her life as the deadly predator circles her in its feeding ground.

Although the film’s premise may not sound that original, the film has received positive reviews. Lively, in particular, has convinced most critics.

Peter Travers of Rolling Stone magazine, said: “Collet-Serra and Lively show no mercy in hooking us with the B-movie tension. And we bite.”

The critics consensus on Rotten Tomatoes reads: “Lean and solidly crafted, The Shallows transcends tired shark-attack tropes with nasty thrills and a powerful performance from Blake Lively.”

But Peter Debruge of Variety implies in his review that the film’s success may depend on Lively’s looks rather than her talent: “The aptly named film recognises that audiences tend to be a lot more interested in water-logged thrillers when there's a pretty actress at stake.”

Lively had said in an interview that she decided to take on this minimalist or one-handed film – that is where there is only one actor on screen for the over whelming majority of the running time – because she knew how such a role was tough and rewarding after her husband, Ryan Reynolds, starred in Buried (2010).

Filmed in New South Wales, Australia with a budget of $17 million, the picture has grossed $52.7 million in North America and $7.7 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $60.4 million, since its release at the end of June.

Ratings
IMDB: 6.8/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 77%
Empire Magazine: N/A

Dave Franco and Emma Roberts enter an adrenaline-fuelled competition in Nerve.Dave Franco and Emma Roberts enter an adrenaline-fuelled competition in Nerve.

Nerve (2016)
Genre: Thriller
Certification: 15
Duration: 96 minutes
Directed by: Henry Joost, Ariel Schulman
Starring: Emma Roberts, Dave Franco, Juliette Lewis, Emily Meade, Miles Heizer, Kimiko Glenn, Marc John Jeffries
KRS Releasing Ltd

Based on the 2012 novel of the same name, the film pertains to the techno-thriller genre – a hybrid genre drawing from science fiction, thrillers, spy fiction, action, and war novels.

It follows a group of US high-school teens and the central character is that of Vee Delmonico (Emma Roberts), an industrious student who is tired of living life on the sidelines. Pressured by her friends, she joins Nerve, a popular online game that challenges players to accept a series of dares.

It's not long before the adrenaline-fuelled competition requires her to perform increasingly dangerous stunts. When Nerve begins to take a sinister turn, Vee finds herself in a high-stakes finale that will ultimately determine her entire future.

The film received mixed reviews from critics, not too negative but neither positive.

The critics consensus on Rotten Tomatoes reads: “Nerve's fast pace and charming leads help overcome a number of fundamental flaws, adding up to a teen-friendly thriller with enough energy to occasionally offset its muddled execution.”

A.A. Dowd of the A.V. Club described the film as “the most technology obsessed teen movie since last year’s Unfriended”.

One thing Allen Salkin of the New York Daily News is sure about is the film’s appeal to teenagers: “If this movie can't get teens to look up from their devices and pay to see a movie at a multiplex, nothing can.”

Since its release in the US on July 27, Nerve has grossed a worldwide total of $28.6 million.

Ratings
IMDB: 7.2/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 59%
Empire Magazine: N/A

Adam DeVine (left) and Zac Efron act all silly in Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates.Adam DeVine (left) and Zac Efron act all silly in Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates.

Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates (2016)
Genre: Comedy
Certification: 15
Duration: 98 minutes
Directed by: Jake Szymanski
Starring: Zac Efron, Adam DeVine, Anna Kendrick, Aubrey Plaza, Stephen Root, Sugar Lyn Beard
KRS Releasing Ltd

Zac Efron continues to try his luck in comedy films after Neighbors (2014) and Dirty Grandpa (2016). Here he is paired up with Adam DeVine, and the two play young, adventurous, fun-loving brothers who tend to get out of control at family gatherings.

When their sister (Sugar Lyn Beard) reveals her Hawaiian wedding plans, they feel forced by their family to bring respectable dates. So they place an ad and pick two charming and seemingly normal waitresses (Aubrey Plaza and Anna Kendrick).

But once they arrive at Hawaii, they realise that all the duo want is to party hard.

Film critic Manohla Dargis of The New York Times calls the film “incredibly stupid”, yet Peter Travers of Rolling Stone says the film makes for “a blast of mad-raunchy summer fun”.

Made on a budget of $33 million, the film has grossed $53.3 million since its release on July 8.

Ratings
IMDB: 6.5/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 38%
Empire Magazine: 2 stars

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