Aguas profundas

What possessed someone with Halle Berry's acting chops to take on this very tepid melodrama is anyones guess.

The film starts out promisingly enough with a suspenseful shark attack that delivers the goods, but quickly degenerates in soap-opera-ish melodrama that never really engages or interests the viewer on any level.

Berry phones in her performance on this show, and whilst some of the cinematography is beautiful I certainly didn't see $25 million on screen. It all just reeks a little of missed opportunity to me. I can see why the film was relegated to the DVD bargain bin in so many territories.

While Dark Tide isn't a terrible film, it's certainly not a good one either.

A feeble 4...

If this would've been a documentary, I would've been full of praise. Beautiful pictures, even those without Halle Berry in them, and great environment. Unfortunately I cannot judge this just by those underwater shots. I have to also rate the dialog and the story. Both of which lack a lot, not only in comparison to the scenery.

Halle Berry and her love interest in this are annoying to the point they make the real bad guy look like the only sane person in this thing. And that is just because he has a clear goal, nothing will get him off that. But our heroes? Better not ask. Especially because their answer will bore and/or annoy you to death. I love Halle, but only watching this because of her or the sharks has to be a decision only you can make ... don't count on an intriguing story though!

The reviews who say that this movie is bad, boring, and the characters are unlikeable simply expect a different kind of movie and have forgotten the joy in a drama with thrilling elements.

This is not "Mission Impossible: Panties in a Twist" or whatever the latest incarnation is. (And I do enjoy those!) This movie is is a character study, an abundance of beautiful cinematography, and a shark chasing thriller all in one. There is a sense of realism, especially with the interactions between the characters, who react in line with their own backstories- characters who are simultaneously heroic, anti-heroic, brilliant, and ridiculously self absorbed and stupid.

Additionally, Dark Tide perfectly captured the sense of sheer peace and quiet that consumes you once your head is below the waves in the open ocean. I've been scuba diving all over the world, and driven a boat like in this movie. The movie captured the sense of reverence in the water and for the water, and took me far away to reefs of my own past.

Is it thrilling? Absolutely- the action scenes were tense, and you felt the weight of the sharks gliding silently just inches away. Is it slower? I was never bored. I enjoyed the characters, flaws and all. In the end, if anything, I wanted more closure and final introspection. But that is the only thing I found lacking. If you remotely like the ocean and treat it as a thriller with a slower burn, you will enjoy the movie.

6 1/2 stars.

I liked Darktide mainly because of it's camera work and portrayal of the Great White shark.

The underwater camera work appeared to be original and was impressive in terms of continuity, unlike most shark films where footage is borrowed from a documentary and pasted in.

The behaviour of the sharks is also more realistic, showing that people with experience can swim with them outside the cage and not be attacked.

The film is let down by a thin plot and bland characters.

I would rate this as the third best shark movie after Jaws(obviously) and The Reef(underrated).

i actually really enjoyed this,if you like the ocean you like great white sharks then this is perfect for you.The acting is pretty decent,the cinematography is really good i'm mean it looks absolutely real!o.k maybe these guys were asking for trouble,but then again there are people that do this everyday out in South Africa and i bet if you talked to every single one of them they could tell you of some seriously close calls,after all you are dealing with the oceans second top predator.(and even though sharks mistake us for food as we are not their usual prey,rogue sharks do exist and have to be killed it happens all over the world so anyone that says sharks don't blindly attach humans are misinformed...anyway)I though it was better than Open Water both one and two and if think there's been loads such as adrift etc etc.The action is great there is some emotional depth between the two main protagonists and to me it seemed like a very enjoyable film.I'd give it a 6.6 out of ten.i thoroughly enjoyed it.Check it out for yourself.