Clicking above and purchasing through Reel.com supports this site
|
A thrill ride, pure and simple. After sinking on the high seas with "Cutthroat Island" and failing to ignite sparks with "Long Kiss Goodnight", director Renny Harlin has wisely gone back to the basics that made his first efforts successful. After a short and slightly slow opening filling us in on the story, Harlin gets right to the chase with a lean, mean sci-fi film that may not be art. Or flawless. It does though, deliver a few very solid thrills along with a few handfuls of smaller but no less effective ones. "Deep Blue Sea" starts off with a short open that lets us in on the story: a scientist(Saffron Burrows) is working with a crew on a station in the ocean doing genetic testing on sharks, and by harvesting a protein in the shark's brain, they believe that they can cure Alzheimers disease. We meet the basic crew as the "suit" who is funding the operation(Samuel L. Jackson) makes his arrival to check up on things. They include a shark wrangler(Thomas Jane), a cook(LL Cool J), scientist(Stellan Skarsgard) and other various people who are about to be reduced to fish food. The picture's main asset is how fantastically paced it is. It lures our expectations along in the beginning, as we're sure that it's all going to go wrong at any moment and just when we can't stand the wait, the film springs upon us suddenly. After that, the picture really begins to move at a fierce pace, hardly stopping for a second to breathe. The dialogue may be silly, inane and contain it's fare share of odd moments(including a couple where the sole purpose seems to be to explain what's going to happen next to an audience that already knows), but there's no denying that the film's technical skill and full-throttle pace carried me over some of the story's goofier moments. It's not original(and it even has a moment where the director obviously takes from one of his other films), but there was hardly a moment where I wasn't on the edge of my seat. It turns out that, due to the testing, the sharks have gotten increasingly smarter and begin coming after their captors in a series of attacks that are some of the fiercest sequences in memory. They merely stalk their victims through the halls and rooms of the flooded halls, but when they have room to swim they attack at blinding speed. "Deep Blue Sea" isn't afraid to show these moments, either. To be honest, the shark attacks aren't exactly pretty. The actors are a mixed bag; Thomas Jane gives a convincing "action hero" performance as the wrangler; Burrows barely manages to make an unlikable character interesting, LL Cool J has a performance that's not only funny but effective- he also has some great lines. On the other hand, Michael Rappaport manages not to go anywhere new- he seems to be playing a mixture of every other character he's played. Samuel L. Jackson is alright, he mainly stands around for the first half of the picture. Technically, the film is also quite good. The special effects are perfection- not only are the animatronic sharks great looking, but the computer generated sharks are flawless, swooping through the water at lightning speed. The Trevor Rabin score has moments that work and moments that don't. There were a number of moments that would be more effective and more terrifying had they occured in the midst of utter silence. Cinematography by Stephen Windon has numerous fine points, capturing the beautiful skys on the surface before they turn stormy as well as below the seas, keeping us right with the action. Most of all though is a solid effort by director Harlin at keeping the film moving non-stop throughout and constantly moving up the level of tension throughout. "Deep Blue Sea" is the definition of a "popcorn" film. In a Summer where solid action seems in sort supply, "Deep Blue Sea" provides what it promises: 95 minutes of thrills, chills and solid entertainment. *** BACK TO THE SITE: Listing Of DVD Special Sales Back To A Guide To Current Film A List Of Current/Upcoming DVD For Sale Soundtracks For Current Films |