47 Meters Down

Me and my fiance decided to watch this film as we had watched Jaws 3 the night before. Thought it would be interesting and it was entertaining as it was one of those movies you talk over as the characters in the film proceed to not use their minds at all and make poor decision after poor decision! I am betting this film was originally going to be a direct to DVD type film, but they ended up releasing it in theaters and considering it cost only about six million to make and went on to gross 44 million I would say they made a good decision. I am glad I did not see this in theaters and rather just watched it on Netflix as it was okay to some degree, but I could not have made fun of it in the theater like I did in my fiance's living room. The movie just begs a person to yell criticisms at the two main characters!

The story has two sisters who are in Mexico living it up. Apparently, one of the sister's recently had her boyfriend break up with her so the other sister gets her to go out and party! They meet two guys who get the girls to sign up to go on a boat that looks like crap, then go into a rusty shark cage and then plunge into the waters that are filled with great whites as the idiots on the boat throw chum into the water thus sending the sharks into a feeding frenzy. What could go wrong? Well, pretty much everything as the rusty, rickety wench that holds the cage breaks, go figure, plunging the girls 47 meters down. Hey, that's the title! They are running low on oxygen and the only help they have is the captain and his crew who at least stayed and tried to help them out and just didn't pack up and forget about them. Unfortunately, the girls keep insisting on leaving the safety of the cage. I can understand it the first time, and when they needed the oxygen tank, but not when they saw the flashlight in the water. They not only have to contend with sharks, the possibility of getting the bends but poor judgement by everyone!

As I said, this film was not bad, but certainly nothing great either. It passed the time nicely as it is a rather absurd movie. For one thing, sharks generally do not try to break through shark cages and rarely go for humans to chomp on unless said person is on a surfboard because then the shark mistakes them for a seal. Here it was ridiculous how determined the sharks are to get at people! Then the whole premise is idiotic as it is clear the captain recognizes the one girl was not experienced and considering how he actually did try to help them he I am betting he would have nixed the whole thing seeing how she was behaving on deck. The ending was a bit predictable too as the captain mentioned something that one who watches a lot of movies will know will come into play otherwise no mention would have been made of it at all. Entertaining, to a degree, good, not very.

Before we sit down in the theater, we know pretty much exactly what happens. Two girls go scuba diving in a shark cage and wind up a trapped in said cage 47 meters below the surface. Since they aren't experts, we know how they will react. Then sharks show up. Since they are sharks in a scary movie, we know how they will react. There is no real room for surprises.

If you expect rampant plot twists and character development, you must not see this type of movie often. It is what it is and it knows that. Despite the only real mystery being which of the girls survives, if any, or perhaps both, the movie actually manages to provide a refreshing twist.

That may sound bold to say when talking about a powerfully simple shark attack movie, but take some time to think about it. The twist is secretly ingenious and explains away many of the ghastly errors in believability.

I'm surprised to find myself defending a movie that I didn't really like all that much. But I am. It's not that movie doesn't deserve criticism. It certainly does. The acting performances earn failing grades across the board. The dialogue is laced with embarrassing over explanations and repeated lines, most of which involve warnings from the captain about the bends. Other times this takes the form of the girls obnoxiously narrating the menial tasks as they carry them out. Once or twice might have been fine, but it's tough to stomach after about the 10th time or so.

My thought on this is maybe the filmmakers knew that it was too dark to see what was going on for most of the movie, so they made the girls say aloud everything that they did. This solution makes about as much sense as going on a five-mile run after knowingly drinking spoiled milk. If one problem is easily avoidable, avoid the problem. Don't attempt a remedy that almost certainly won't help the situation.

All that said, I defend the movie because I think it executes its mission reasonably well. I shifted to the edge of my seat and felt uneasy on many occasions. The movie managed to scare the audience and it did so with fewer jump scares than expected.

Instead, the movie built to moments that would normally climax with the infamous jump scare then simply opted not to deliver one. The goal is still achieved. The moments still induce a sense of dread from the audience, but without the cheapness of frightening viewers by essentially saying "boo." I'd like to see other movies emulate this tactic.

My advice: if you are going to watch this movie, understand what you are getting into. The movie likely won't surprise and that wasn't its intention. Be reasonable with your expectations. Accept the movie's strengths and weaknesses. Empathize with how terrifying the situation would be if it were you stuck in the shark cage on the ocean floor, and don't hesitate to laugh at the movie's weaknesses.

Do those two things, and you may walk away satisfied. If you are unwilling to do that, stay out of the water.

How often do you watch a film from this genre and are made to watch 90 minutes of bad acting, unrealistic sharks, poor camerawork etc, my expectations weren't too high, and I for one was pleasantly surprised. This film is actually really well made, it's very solid, it's well acted, and it manages to generate both terror and claustrophobia, in a way I wasn't expecting. That ending also, talk about out of the Blue ;-) Beautifully filmed, superb location work, sharks that although maybe a little out of character to say the least certainly looked good, and of course added to the terror.

Pleasantly surprised. 7/10

Although it can have a handful of somewhat intense moments, 47 Meters Down sadly proves to be nothing but another generic shark movie, and to be frank, a rather pathetic attempt at that. I'll start with the films strengths, that being why most of the people will watch the film, for the suspense. I feel all the suspenseful moments in the film come from the situations under water, and not at all the danger of the sharks themselves. The sharks throughout the film are almost comically thrown in there, so much to the point, that I laughed whenever they came on screen. I enjoyed the claustrophobic nature it had been trapped in the cage under water, not knowing what to do or where to go, but our lead characters are too stupid to truly be concerned for, and the lead actresses hardly capable of carrying the film to the lengths it needs them too. The acting is quite bad, incredibly overdramatic, silly at times, and the dialogue is atrocious. Besides the sharks literally being a joke upon the screen, the worst part of the film is hands down the twist ending, which is not only frustrating, but absolutely ridiculous, and completely unnecessary. The film is unbelievable, dull at times, and simply too stupid to handle the fear of its somewhat interesting premise. In the end, 47 Meters Down is probably left better at the bottom of the ocean, than it was in major theaters across the globe. My Rating: 3.5/10

For a scary shark flick I found it totally worked. Of course the intro, party scene & boys are what you'd expect for this genre, and had me wondering if I'd make it to the end due to all the cliché.

But it did take off from there nicely, had some genuine holy f*ck moments, a good pacing and had me wondering all the way if the girls would make it to the end...

The camera work was great and the sharks well done (a bit too aggressive for total realism, but hey). The ending was also original, for once!

Compared to The Shallows, I'd say it's equally solid in terms of entertainment value and getting the viewer hooked until the end.

Overall a solid 7 in my book.