It seems that the last great shark movie was “Jaws”. Otherwise, it seems that all the shark movies are nothing but formulaic B-movies such as “Sharknado”, “Shark Attack”, and “Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus”. Will “The Shallows” be able to reverse that trend?
Although the film has a small cast, “The Shallows” is pretty much Blake Lively’s movie. A movie that focuses on a single individual can be either be really good or really bad based on their performance alone. Thankfully, Blake Lively provides the anxiety needed in a man (or woman in this case) vs. nature scenario such as this one.
The movie was very well-directed by Jaume Collet-Serra. This was a nice surprise considering the director’s past catalogue (i.e. that horrible “House of Wax” remake with Paris Hilton). The film has a really great use of atmosphere despite taking place on a beautiful Mexican beach.
Despite the great qualities of the film, “The Shallows” was short of being a masterpiece. I won’t spoil anything about this movie but the third act suffered due to tone issues. For most of the movie, the shark in this movie was a menacing presence. However, the shark became rather cartoonish by the end of this movie. However, “The Shallows” is a cut above the rest.
SCORE: 4/5
