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Entertaining 'shark' movie that adds a modern twist to the Jaws films of the 1970s and 80s. The location is supposed to be some surfers paradise beach in Mexico (in reality filmed in Australia) where a lone surfer Nancy (Blake Lively) ends up stranded a mere 200m from the safety of the beach by an angry Carcharadon carcharias (Great White Shark).

Nancy heavily losing blood from a deep leg wound ends up finding solace on a rock. To add to the screenplay she is befriended by a seagull she names Steven. Do you get the joke Steven Seagull? The shark effects are all cleverly added by CGI which of course Steven Spielberg didn't have available at the time of shooting Jaws in 1975. I suppose there is little manoeuvre for the screenplay. Don't get me wrong an entertaining watch but just highlights for me how good Jaws was.

The Shallows knows exactly what it is, and that's the best praise I can give it. It's barely 90 minutes long, has a small cast, and only one location. Its only purpose is to give you a thrill-ride during that time; an adrenaline rush based on an ubiquitous fear among humans: being stranded in the ocean with a shark. However as the title suggests, this doesn't take place in the middle of the ocean. This woman is stranded only a couple hundred yards from the shore, close enough to potentially shout for help. What The Shallows does so well is establish this sense of isolation and hopelessness for our main character, and her situation of being so close yet so far from safety.

Blake Lively is great in this role. It's mostly a reactionary role - not much dialogue aside from some early establishing conversations to develop her character. For the majority of the film Lively is terrified and fighting for survival against a deadly shark. This thing is huge, like the Jaws' shark's father huge. And it's interesting to see how she follows its patterns and observes its behavior, allowing her to act accordingly without being trapped. There are some far-fetched scenes, sure, but Jaws had them as well and it's hailed as a classic. Now I'm not saying The Shallows is as good a movie as Jaws, because it certainly isn't. But again, the movie knows what it is, and as a short shark thriller appealing solely to our primal fear, it gets the job done and then some.

Now, it has its faults. The electronic music during the surfing scenes was immediately off-putting, and there are some slo-mo shots that definitely did not deserve to be in slo-mo. But the directing as a whole is well done - gorgeous sweeping shots of the open ocean, the slow build up before the initial attack, showing the shark only when it's most effective. The writing is clever and practical, relatable to the point that you feel for this character's predicament, and the acting as I said is top notch. The Shallows doesn't break any new ground, but it does exactly what it sets out to do - give the audience yet another reason to avoid the beach.

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.

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!

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.