From website rankings to "JAWS" fans, to even people like Roger Ebert and (at the time wounded) Stephen King, "Deep Blue Sea" is regarded to be one of the better shark movies outside of "JAWS." That's not to say it's hailed to be better or as masterful as "JAWS," nor has it been widely seen as a genuinely good movie. But compared to many other B shark movies that are usually forgotten or overlooked, "Deep Blue Sea" has gained a reputation and legacy overtime that's still present among fans of shark movies. I don't expect it to be an incredible film, but is it as decent of a shark movie as people have built up to be? ON WITH THE REVIEW!
Set at a remote underwater laboratory called Aquatica, scientists lead by Dr. Susan McCallister (Saffron Burrows) are in search of a cure for Alzheimer's disease, using sharks as their test subjects. The results of finding the cure are successful, but Susan has enhanced the sharks' brain size during the experiments, making them intelligent while gaining extraordinary abilities. During a raging storm, the sharks flood the underwater facility as they swim around, preying on the people caught in the disaster. The only chance for the team's survival is by reaching the surface.
The set-up alone isn't half-bad. If anything, it's very intense, providing a claustrophobic environment where the characters face other possible fates than just serving as a tasty meal for the film's predators. This kind of premise isn't the first time a shark movie involved a shark attacking an underwater base. There was already "JAWS 3-D" when the shark trapped a bunch of tourists at a marine aquarium and broke the glass in "Sea World's" underwater control room. Unlike how "JAWS 3-D" did so little with these breathtaking scenarios, this film takes full advantage of it by continually throwing one obstacle after another as the characters try to escape. This film takes a few things from "JAWS" in terms of a few shots, and cues for its opening score. But they're very minimal. The only direct reference the film makes is when a license plate is pulled out of the shark's mouth, looking identical to the one used in the movie that launched this particular sub-horror genre. And I have to admit; it was a funny nod for how out of nowhere it was. The film's plot functions more like a shark version of "Jurassic Park." An accident involving a predator altered by science summons an outsider (played by one of the actors in the dinosaur film Samuel L. Jackson) to investigate, similar to how the characters were brought to the park. And just how these intelligent dinosaurs were able to escape from their cages and eat any human they come across, the sharks who are given knowledge and escape from their cages behave no different. This film is more deserving of the title "Jurassic Shark" than the actual "Jurassic Shark" film. With all joking aside, despite its similarities to "Jurassic Park," it's still original enough to stand on its own, and it's in many ways cool to see a shark version of a classic dinosaur Blockbuster that in some ways improves upon the ideas in "JAWS 3-D."
The film doesn't look cheaply made like other shark movies either. Visually it's fun to watch. The sets for Aquatica give this location enough personality to make it a fascinating facility to explore. The exteriors to the site look as gigantic and spacious as the sets in "WaterWorld." The interiors provide a stunning yet claustrophobic environment that is dangerously ominous as a disaster scene in a James Cameron film or the Nostromo in "Alien." The sharks' effects are indeed some of the best special effects shown in a shark film. The attention to detail to these massive animatronic sharks' appearances and movement look so life-like that it's scary. The film even went as far as to use real-life sharks in some of the scenes, and sometimes, it's hard to tell which is real and which is animatronic. The only time it's easy to see when they're fake is when the film resorts to CGI-ing them. At least in other shark films that use CGI effects, they're at least consistently hideous, making them look boring than offensively dreadful. Combining such bottom of the barrel CGI effects with such realistic looking sharks is just as painfully distracting as watching Godzilla in the "Millennium Era" become computer-generated.
Perhaps if the film had thrilling direction, maybe overlooking the film's ugly CGI would be somewhat forgivable. After all, the shark in "JAWS" wasn't technically advanced either, and people still praise the movie as a masterpiece in horror. And sure the film has its moments of genuine suspense. The opening scene involving the shark attacking a bunch of teenagers on a boat in the middle of the sea is well-paced, builds anticipation by keeping the shark hidden, and has a surprise ending that doesn't often happen at the beginning of shark films. And the scene when Susan finds herself trapped in a room with one of the sharks is pretty terrifying, given there's no place to get around it. Easily the most chilling death in the film is watching one of the team members disappear underwater after having trouble reaching the ladder as Aquatica floods. And when you think she's done for, she pops right up a few seconds later in the jaws of the shark's mouth, screaming to then disappearing again underwater filled with blood. It's a well-orchestrated demise that's as spine-tingling as watching the man on the rowboat in "JAWS" vanish underwater. And the gore effects (that isn't animated) are a gruesome sight to watch (when judging the standards of the genre). But as a whole, the suspense isn't that strong.
The film creates such great set-ups worthy of both action and suspense, only to rush through them, focusing more on action than with terror. One example involves a chef played by LL Cool J getting trapped inside an oven underwater with the shark trying to break it open as he's slowly getting roasted. The thought of this idea alone makes my heart-pond for how horrific it is. But the scene doesn't create much of an impact of what's at stake. Cool J doesn't look like he's boiling, nor acts like he's in pain or in parallel (more laughing at the irony of his supposed fate if he doesn't escape), while the shots of the shark ramming the oven are edited so fast that there's no time to feel the weight of each time it crashes. It comes off as Cool J performing an escape act that Houdini would do for how comical and in control he is, rather than afraid of facing two possible deaths with little chance of survival. There's a scene when a shark drags a guy strapped onto a stretcher underwater and flings him to break the glass where the lab's located. Again, another frightening idea that's also used as a surprise attack. But seeing a victim attached to the mouth of the CG shark is still laughable, and witnessing the characters watch the fake CG glass break so calmly makes this scene almost as silly as "JAWS 3-D".
And yes, the film does have more than enough over the top deaths that are funny than they are scary, sometimes offering big fake explosions and over-dramatic use of slow-mo. The funniest ones usually happen when people are happy or relieved until a fake CG shark comes out of nowhere to attack them. The most ridiculous scene that gets mentioned a lot when regarding this film is Samuel L Jackson's death. It's mainly remembered for how this big named star gets eaten by one fake shark followed by another after he makes a very corny motivational speech supported by uplifting music. For me, what makes it funny is that he's making a speech about survival as he stands right in front of the pool where a shark just destroyed their submarine. We know people make stupid decisions in horror films all the time. But there's a difference between paranoia stupidity, and stupidly walking into danger when the signs are right in front of you. Even with a "don't stand there" sign in big letters with neon lights and an arrow, I think Jackson's character still would've ignored it as if a damaged vehicle as their only way out right next to the spot isn't clear enough. It's a real pity that Jackson wasn't one of the survivors in this ordeal. Towards the end of the film, one of the survivors who gets horrifically bitten leaving a bloody trail behind somehow survives not looking as bad as he did when the shark bit him. If the film is going to use the same nonsensical logic of surviving and looking okay after being bitten by a shark from "JAWS: The Revenge," can it be given to Jackson?
Part of what makes many shark movies a bore is by focusing too much on the bland characters and their relationships, which are typically performed by terrible actors or big-named stars who don't try. This film spares that pain by having the plot focus more on the sharks and escaping from Aquatica than the characters. I'm all up in arms for having good characters in shark movies, except these films do it so rarely. This film creates characters who are easy to identify, provide a little bit of background history, focus purely on science and survival, and that's it. There's no romance, no constant rivalry towards each other, and very few drawn-out scenes that stop the film for them talking about their past or expressing emotion. It's just creating science and figuring out ways to get out and defeat the sharks, no filler.
Now just because the characters are simplistic, they could still be irritating or downright dull to get through if they're not acted well. While I can't say the acting in this film is anything special because it can be too over the top, nonchalant, and annoying at times, it's not bad. If anything, the acting is pretty decent, and at times believable. The pain and paranoia that the actors show is always constant where the struggles they go through (most of the time) feel real if not intense. Part of that is because the actors look uncomfortable. Getting drenched by water while standing in it for hours doesn't sound like a fun experience. Samuel L. Jackson claimed that working in the water wasn't just unpleasant, but it led to the actors accidentally getting poured with three tons of water that swept them across the set without a safety harness. And as disastrous as it was, the actors stayed in character as this accident was kept in the final movie when they tried to reach the elevator during the storm.
As the actors appear to look like their struggling, only a few of them stand-out as the rest are disposable for how little of an impression they leave. Dr. Susan would be the female equivalent of Dr. Frankenstein if she were under the direction of James Cameron. She's a stubborn, headstrong woman who breaks the rules of science for the best interest of humanity only to have it back-fire and put her and others in danger yet still pushes through to survive. She's not the best-written complex character or one of the strongest female characters in cinema; nevertheless, Saffron Burrows' performance still provides an excellent performance. Thomas Jane fits as the film's macho hero Carter, who's as vulnerable as the rest of the characters, yet have a strict and controlling presence when things seem impossible. Although he is portrayed as the film's hero and has plenty of interactions with the sharks, the film surprisingly doesn't have him kill any sharks. And unfortunately, neither does Samuel L. Jackson. It's LL Cool J as the film's comic relief who gets most of the shark action. It's a great twist to have your comic relief act more as the hero than the supposed hero if only the character were funny. LL Cool J may be good at rapping, but comedy is not one of his talents. His delivery and the jokes he has to work with can be so annoyingly awkward for how unnaturally forced and odd they are that I was anxiously waiting for a shark to devour him as quickly as possible. Originally Samuel L Jackson was going to play the character until his management rejected him playing a chef, thus creating a different role for him. I'm not saying the humor would be funny. Still, knowing Jackson's aggressively loud exaggerated personality in most of his work, he would most likely be more enjoyably entertaining compared to Cool J. Instead, we see a great actor who is perfect for a film of this kind get killed off way too soon, as Cool J's unfunny performance takes his place. The very least couldn't Carter be the character you'd think would lead the film be the one to die early since the film doesn't allow him to kill one of the sharks.
Overall Thoughts
"Deep Blue Sea" is full of flaws that can get quite degrading many times. But for the things it does right, it delivers more than enough good to warrant a view. If you can get past its eye-bleeding CGI, visually, it's one of the best-looking shark films out there for its innovative sets and outstanding practical shark effects. Aside from Cool J, the performances don't bore or annoy as each actor can turn in a good, if not a fantastic performance. And seeing that the film treats itself as a straightforward action film makes it an entertaining experience than sitting through the typical problems that most shark films have in their narrative. I was surprised by how the picture was able to deliver some legit terror and some genuinely funny moments, as most of these films usually fail at both. If you're not looking for big thrills and character depth and just want to be entertained by watching characters fight and escape from sharks with some cool effects, you'll be glad you watched it. It's the perfect mindless action-packed pop-corn B shark movie to view outside of "JAWS" that I'm satisfied I saw.
