47 Metres Down
2 stars
Director: Johannes Roberts
Stars: Mandy Moore, Claire Holt, Matthew Modine
Duration: 89 mins
Class: 12
KRS Releasing Ltd
Another summer, another ‘shark attack’ movie at the cinema to while away a couple of hours in air-conditioned comfort. And another inevitable negative comparison to the daddy of all shark movies. For 42 years after Jaws first scared the living daylights out of audiences (and swimmers), the film continues to spawn (mostly poor) imitations.
2016 gave us The Shallows, in which Blake Lively was pitted against a Great White shark and which proved that when well done, there is still much tension and entertainment to be mined out of the genre. However, if the people behind 47 Metres Down hoped that having not one but two young ladies fighting off the unwanted attention of a school of sharks would bring them double The Shallows’ success, they were mistaken.
Another inevitable negative comparison to the daddy of all shark movies
Sisters Lisa (Mandy Moore) and Kate (Claire Holt) are holidaying in Mexico after Lisa’s boyfriend Stuart dumped her for being too boring. Lisa is in a complete funk and Kate tries to finds ways to cheer her up. When the sisters meet the charming Benjamin (Santiago Segura) and Louis (Yani Gellman) in a bar, the guys invite them to join them on an expedition to see sharks up close within the safe confines of a metal cage. Kate thinks it’s the best idea ever. Lisa is unconvinced, yet seems to think that if she does something as exciting as this, then Stuart will change his mind about her… and they will live happily ever after.
First of all, Lisa, if your boyfriend thinks you’re boring and dumps you, good riddance (especially since we know something you don’t – that he’s a two-timing scumbag). But this is not that movie and, keen to prove that she is game for a bit of excitement, off they go, boarding a rather rickety ship (which in and of itself should have set alarm bells ringing) and finally getting into the cage… despite Lisa’s misgivings.
Needless to say, the adventure does not quite go as planned, as only minutes after the girls have hit the water and ‘oohed’ and ‘aahed’ at their first sighting of a shark, the winch holding the cage breaks and they plummet, cage and all, the titular 47 metres to the ocean floor below.
If you are the sort of unfussy viewer who likes this sort of thing, admittedly the film does deliver a few genuinely tense moments. The girls are rapidly running out of air and their lack of scuba diving experience exacerbates the situation somewhat. However, their constant to-ing and fro-ing from the cage for a variety of reasons dissipates the tension somewhat. That they need to swim up a few metres to get in range to be able to communicate with the ship’s captain (Matthew Modine) becomes unintentionally funny, while the latter’s constant dire warnings about ‘the bends’ and their side effects prove to be a not-so-subtle portent about what is to come… leading to a pretty dire final scene that caused the mother of all eye-rolls.
Given the schlocky nature of it all, it is no surprise that characterisation is down to bare minimum. There’s Lisa, sad and cautious; Kate, feisty and fun-loving; and Moore and Holt, struggling to add some depth to the cardboard characters. The fact that they are in full scuba gear means we never get to see their facial expressions, and thus, the full extent of their fear.
Cinematographer Mark Silk is to be commended for creating a suitably oppressive underwater atmosphere, filling the murky ocean scenery with ominous shadows, while the myriad shots of Great White predators doing their toothy damage are also fairly realistically rendered.
Also showing
The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature – Surly the squirrel and his animal friends spring into action when the evil mayor of Oakton plans to bulldose the park that they live in.
Children Cinema Day: September 2
KRS Releasing’s second edition of this year’s Children Cinema Day takes place on September 2.
Fourteen films will be be screened on the day, comprising a variety of genres, from animation to adventure, comedy, action, fantasy, drama and family.
Film shows at reduced admission prices will start at 9am and run until 7pm, while in Gozo, shows will be at 2pm, 4pm and 6pm. The following are the films showing on the day: Everything, Everything; The Nut Job 2: Nutty By Nature; Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets; The Emoji Movie: Express Yourself; Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie; Cars 3; War For The Planet Of The Apes; Spider-Man: Homecoming; Beauty And The Beast; Despicable Me 3; Transformers: The Last Knight; Diary Of Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul; Wonder Woman; Power Rangers; and Smurfs: The Lost Village.