Im Wasser der Seine

(Yes, I did spend a while trying to come up with a pun that I hadn't seen before).

As this film was gathering some traction on Twitter across the weekend, I decided that I should give it a go. Having assumed it would be an equivalent to the sort of film "The Asylum" make, I was surprised and interested to see that it was initially not that - though in all honesty it gets there by the end.

Having lost her crew, and husband, to Shark attack, on an expedition to the Pacific garbage patch, Sophia (Berenice Bejo) returns to Paris and works in an aquarium. Three years later she's contacted by an Environmentalist Mika (Lea Leviant) who explains that she's hacked shark tracking technology and that one has made it up the Seine, as far as Paris city centre. With Sophia refusing to help them, Mika and her associate Ben (Nagisa Morimoto) undertake the dive instead, with Mika being arrested. Mika, and later Sophia, try to convince River Patrol of the unlikely interloper, but with the Paris Triathlon imminent, the mayor (Anne Marivin) refuses to consider cancelling.

At the start the film is actually reasonably sensible. The shark is played as a looming threat, foreboding in the background or whipping through frame too quick to get a good look at. There's a clear environmental message, where climate change and sea pollution has changed the shark's natural habitats. Berenice Bejo, who was in "The Artist" is a decent lead and does have some chemistry with impossibly heroic Soldier turned River Police action man Adil, played by Nassim Lyes.

I guess the trouble with the film is that, towards the end it does drift into that 'Asylum' "Sharknado" territory with much more explicit use of the, now painfully cheap-looking, CGI Shark. I write my reviews without spoilers usually, and I'll continue to do so here, but I just don't understand how the ending happens. I liked how spectacular it was but where does the water come from?

You never know with Neflix just how well a film has actually done, but there's a chance from that ending that sequels, or sister films might be forthcoming. I'd hope they'd find a more consistent tone, either way, serious, or campy, to be satisfying. This is neither.

You know how there's a whole set of films that's based on stupid people making stupid decisions?

Person 1: DON'T DO IT!

Person 2: *proceeds to do it anyway and gets killed* Audience: SHE TOLD YOU NOT TO DO IT! How dumb are you!?

Those types movies. However, if they're done well, you don't mind the stupidity in it and play along.

I kept reading "If you liked Jaws, you'll enjoy Under Paris." "One of the best Shark films since Jaws" - High praise. So, I had to watch it, despite low scores.

The dumb people in this film don't listen, do dumb things, and get killed. But it's been filmed well; it's intense, the sound design and cinematography keep you engaged. Shark graphics - decent enough. It's got enough going on to keep you engaged, the plot is not boring at all. The ending may have you scratching your head though.

Here's a perspective that I don't think anybody is considering - I don't know the first thing about Shark Biology or marine evolution, but I looked at the 'Sharks' as a metaphor for 'Climate Change' and the plot AND the ending suddenly made so much more sense. That made me feel like the movie was actually better than people are making it out to be.

Either that, or I'm just trying to convince myself that I didn't waste 2 hours watching stupid people make stupid decisions.

Under Paris was certainly a film. Although I don't particularly know how to describe it, but this film did have some good things, and also some not so good things. The Film also did start out interestingly, and kind of develops the story along. The main focus in this scenario is Sophia. And they have never seemed to get the effects right for a shark, apart from the Meg. Not even Jaws. So, digest the shenanigans of Under Paris with me.

So, Sophia. Where does the film start? It is about her husband, and I presume they are both marine biologists, so apologies if I'm wrong, but her husband died due to a shark attack. And now 3 years later, the Shark has come back, to seek revenge. The Shark appears and should put a hold on the race, but it doesn't. The mayor is quite happy to keep it going, kind of dumb. Especially when they are now going to be attacked by a Shark.

"Don't go in the Water", proceeds to go in the water. And it was that type of film throughout, hilariously dumb decisions that made absolutely no sense. Jade as a result gets eaten by the Shark, as she tries to tough the baby shark, which is stupid in itself. So then after that, she's chomped by the shark.

The scene I described about Jade getting eaten, has some intense scenes and a very deadly scenario leads to some people getting eaten by the Shark. The mother, but it doesn't end there, as the big swim is still on. I like this part of the film, it was very action-packed. And had edge of your seat action, that went faster and faster as the Shark moved along.

What sets this film apart from other movies, It's dumb, yes. It's ridiculous, yes. It has, oh never mind it does A shallows and has explosions in the water, and collapses the bridge. Yes, that is all the same. However, the Shark is different, could be. And I love the commentary about the ecosystem and the pollution in the water, that's the difference. It also has interesting ideas about adaptation and weather the Shark can survive or not. But If it's near you, your body is twisting and tuning, and then we'll your eaten.

The End race commences, should it? Probably not. But hear we go!, and that's when everything gets exciting, intense. And people are being eaten by the Sharks. The explosions go off, the FBI fire at will, and it ends in chaos, it was certainly and action-packed 15 Minutes. Full of scenes that were ridiculous and non-sensical, and some entertainment through this part.

After all of that chaos, we then end with a flooded Paris, so now it's On Top of Paris. With Sharks all around the perimeter, now the police are stuck. And the end shows a beutiful view of Paris, and a flying bird. That ends the film In style. Now I will end my review, right after the Verdict.

Would I recommend this film? Honestly, you'll be entertained, and if your a fan of Shark movies then I would, but keep away if brain dead movies aren't for you. This film had everything though, Under Paris gets an average score of 5 out of 10.

At first, I thought it was a movie from "The Asylum" production. That's until the unexpected and spectacular ending came about. No spoilers though. You'll have to watch it.

Pros. Very nice views of Paris. Nice camera work and pictures. Entertaining.

Cons. All the rest, including the fake sharks that make "Jaws" sharks look so real. Lol. Bad acting unless it was supposed to be a comedy. Not sure it was the intention but it's there!

Overall terrible movie released just in time as an advertisement push for Paris Olympic Games. As a bad joke the ending would make an awesome and epic Olympics Opening Ceremony. Lol. The movie was entertaining due to the fact that it looked more like a comedy than a thriller.

A movie is not good when you are rooting for the villian. In this case, the shark was my superhero.

First of all, with 50 years of advanced technology, robotics, cgi and advancement in film....that sharks today look less realistic than Jaws? It is insane how fake today's sharks look.

To the story...it follows every cliche, nothing is original here, with scenes and dialogues almost straight out of Jaws or Deep Blue Sea.

Acting is way over-the-top, dialogue consists of screaming or incesseantly yelling someone's name. Sharks are fake looking, about the same level as a Sharknado And you cannot find one person making smart decisions. This is a complete miss.