Directed by:
Jaume Collet-SerraScreenplay:
Anthony JaswinskiCinematography:
Flavio Martínez LabianoComposer:
Marco BeltramiVOD (3)
Plots(1)
In the taut thriller The Shallows, when Nancy (Blake Lively) is surfing on a secluded beach, she finds herself on the feeding ground of a great white shark. Millions of years of evolution have led the shark to do one thing: survive. Though she is stranded only 200 yards from shore, getting there proves the ultimate test of wills. (Sony Pictures)
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Reviews (13)
It lacks the "something extra" I found in the recent The Grey, and the last five minutes are downright annoying, but otherwise The Shallows is more than a good - above all - spectacle. Blake Lively, colored by nature like in a travel agency catalogue, and the great shark (not shown much, not because it was difficult to make it, but because of the tension, which is good) were a joy to watch. The film goes by quickly, it's fast-paced and entertaining, the direction knows what to do to make sure there is not too much of anything (I liked one off-screen feast a lot) and the soundtrack by Marco Beltrami is definitely one of the best things to come out of film music this year. Pure four stars.
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Water Gravity light. A B-movie that I enjoyed and which enjoyed me. They don’t have to look into my head and pull phobias out of there. But the jellyfish scene will haunt me until just before I die. Thanks to Blake Lively, a sweet combination of an erection and a contracted ass. Jaume could have done without a couple of the over the top of the top scenes, but otherwise it’s the ultimate summer eye candy. Everything one needs from crisp exploitation.
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Blake is kissable and the seagull is straight-up Oscar-worthy, but the whole story, despite its sympathetic length, is kind of dull and features no real surprises. A couple of times I admiringly pondered the production background, where the camera games probably end and the casual special effects begin, but Serra accepts only very sloppy screenwriting assignments into his crafted workshop. [Finale = humorous self-parodic failure. I was quite sad about all the previous efforts.]
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The Hungry vs. Food series has another film with a dismal and unrealistic ending (that spoils the atmosphere for effect alone), but that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t work as a whole. Also the whale was a good idea. The tastefully tanned Blake Lively was the main asset of The Shallows from the start and in this respect the heroine doesn’t disappoint. In terms of story, it’s a variation on Gravity and the inner dramas pointlessly protract the plot. Seagull is probably the only really nice character in the movie. The horror nuances are masterly, including the shocks. Collet-Serra knows how to make an eye-catching movie, but I prefer those with an R-rating and with Neeson in the role of daddy.
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When an ordinary mortal encounters a clearly pissed off and big white shark with a full set of teeth while surfing, they are instantly done for. But when such a shark encounters Blake Lively, an American who can expertly sew up a laceration with her own bracelet and is a warrior for her late mother, we suddenly have a wide-open and quite dynamic battle for survival. But as much as I initially enjoyed the rather cinematic story, and as much as Serra repeatedly satisfied me with quick but clear editing, solid pacing, and a lot of iconic shots of the beautiful Blake's semi-naked body, the depleted thematic well gradually began to show its negative effects, leading to a riveting but heavily exaggerated finale that doesn't even reach the tip of the back fin of Jaws. At home, thanks to Beltrami's unobtrusive (and wonderfully escalated) soundtrack it was alright, but I wouldn't go to the cinema to see something so blatantly digital.
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