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Steven Spielberg has a lot to answer for. Ever since he made Jaws in 1975 there have been countless attempts on the big screen to emulate that film and all have failed. Some have been excruciatingly bad but thankfully The Shallows isn't one of those. This is the story of Nancy who travels to a secluded beach to surf . While in the water , she is hunted by a great white shark and finds herself stranded on a rock with the tide going out . Wounded and with time running out she battles to get away from the shark. Probably the best thing about this film is performance of Blake Lively. She definitely carries this film. The action is pretty good although totally predictable and it looks great up until the use of CGI underwater when it starts to look like a scene from a Sharks Tale. At a pleasant running time of 84 minutes , The Shallows is good bit of escapism but like every other shark film , it's no Jaws.

I have a couple of issues with this film (occasionally too much CGI, and a weird ending) but for the majority of its brief, 86-minutes-long run, this is a riveting film, exquisitely filmed in the Gold Coast of Australia, about a survivor of a shark attack clinging to life, figuratively and literally, on the side of a rock 200 feet from shore, with the shark still circling the waters.

Normally watered down PG13-rating gives way to some surprisingly grisly bursts of gore, as she tries to suture her wounds with makeshift surgical tools, and a couple of brutal attack scenes.

The film makes the most of a small cast, and Blake Lively carries the film almost entirely herself, spending at least two thirds of the film completely isolated. Well, she's not completely alone, she also has Steven "Sully" Seagull, as himself.

The Shallows (2016)

*** (out of 4)

Nancy (Blake Lively) heads to a secluded beach in Mexico that her mother had visited years earlier. The plan is to surf and reflect on her life but soon she's fighting for it when she's attacked by a Great White shark.

THE SHALLOWS has been called the best shark movie since JAWS and it's easy to see why so many people are falling in love with it. Director Jaume Collet-Serra has certainly created one of the more memorable thrillers of the past few years and while there's a lot of scenes with the shark the director also manages to build up suspense without seeing it. This is certainly a movie where the director has full control of the experience and he really delivers a nice little gem.

The greatest thing about the movie is certainly it's suspense factor. Going into the movie you already know that there's a shark that is going to attack so this immediately gets you ready for what's to come. What works so well is the fact that everything goes as you'd expect but at the thirty minute mark things take a bigger turn and we get several more twists and surprises. I'm obviously not going to ruin them here but there's no doubt that there are several scenes that will have your stomach in a knot as you wait to see where the next attack is going to come from.

The director delivers all sorts of great excitement and there's no doubt that the shark attacks are wonderfully done. What's so great about them is that the shark looks 100% real and there's never any feeling that you're watching a CGI shark like DEEP BLUE SEA or some other crap movie you'd see on SyFy. The movie also works whenever the shark isn't attacking because the director builds up such a relationship between the viewer and the Nancy character that you can't help but feel suspense even when the shark isn't there.

Lively turns in a very good performance as she perfectly hits on several emotional marks. Oscar Jaenada also deserves a lot of credit for the few scenes that he is in. There are a few flaws here and there, including a horrible ending but there's no question that THE SHALLOWS delivers the goods.

The Shallows is a cool and helpful film, it is also a movie that has many risks of being boring, since much of the film is set on an isolated rock in the sea, and the main one has to survive, not to be killed by A shark, the cast is good, I was surprised Blake Lively's performance, she proved to be a good actress, obviously not a memorable performance, but she did well, the rest of the cast does not compromise, the visual effects are good, the Visual of the shark is OK, the rhythm starts well, but loses a little strength in the progress, the soundtrack combines with the film, the film has tense moments, the script has some problems, and the film unfortunately loses its force in the third act , Plus The Shallows is recommended, even more who likes movies of that same style. Note 6.8

A young American woman goes surfing alone at a secluded beach in Mexico but finds herself stranded on a rock with a hungry great white shark circling. And a seagull called Steve for company! This makes a great change from the glut of ridiculous shark movies "inspired" by the likes of 'Sharknado". No roaring shark (I didn't hear any anyway) and no CGI that looks like they were done by a 5 year old. Sure, there are goofs and gaffs, and I felt that the final showdown was pretty silly. However it is nicely filmed, has decent effects, plenty of tension and Blake Lively does a good job as the heroine. She also looks mighty fine in a bikini!