DEEP WATER

Deep Water marks director Renny Harlin’s return to shark infested waters with absurd attack sequences that are as ridiculous as they are thrilling, but as a whole the film is burdened by its poor visual effects work and its desire to realistically ground the film at times rather than going absolutely over the top with the shark mayhem.

Horror based shark films all have to live up to the legendary status set by Steven Spielberg in Jaws, which is an absolute masterclass in filmmaking in every way imaginable, but what is the second greatest shark film of all? Arguably, and with good reason, it is most likely Renny Harlin’s 1999 action cult classic Deep Blue Sea. It’s ridiculous, but the genetically enhanced sharks that had the relentless vengeance of a Terminator and thirst for human flesh made Deep Blue Sea a guilty pleasure in every regard and marked the high point of Harlin’s career as a director alongside his previous film, 1996’s The Long Kiss Goodnight. Twenty-six years later, Harlin is returning to shark infested waters with Deep Water, and the notion of Harlin going back into the water again is excitement enough for those who hold a special place in their movie loving heart for Deep Blue Sea to venture to the cinema. But despite a wildly fun premise and some ridiculous moments including Aaron Eckhart beating a CGI shark with a rubber oar, Deep Water never leans heavily enough into its absurdity and features subpar visual effects that relinquishes the film to the shadows of more entertaining shark horror films.

Sharks devouring stranded passengers from a plane crash in the Pacific Ocean leaves lots of room for some good horror entertainment, and Deep Water does its best to deliver on this promise. After a quick setup meeting the main passengers on the flight and Eckhart’s Ben, the first officer, and Sir Ben Kingsley’s Rich, the pilot, Harlin and the screenwriters waste no time, quickly plunging the flight into chaos that delivers the humans to the hungry sharks. That sequence is a nerve wracking experience from start to finish, delivering a terrifying set of events that decimates the airplane and reignites a fear of flying within viewers, aided by some strong practical effects and stunt work that makes the plane crash the best sequence of the entire film.

From there on out, it's all about being stranded in the middle of the ocean and looking for help, and while there is a hesitancy to show too much of the shark attacks to help develop a story of survival amongst the survivors that grounds the film, the moments of shark mayhem it does have are well earned. There is no shortage of blood, victims to the shark attacks, and absurd moments that embraces the horrors of shark attacks and the heightened absurdity of the film that echoes Deep Blue Sea (albeit without the genetic engineering), making a strong return for Harlin behind the camera after the disastrous trilogy of films he gave to audiences with The Strangers. Each shark attack generates a good amount of fear while watching them unfold, even if the melodrama in between them and their short nature never fully delivers on what audiences are seeking from this film. The performances are serviceable with actors like Eckhart and Kingsley being our noble heroes and others like Angus Sampson who brings to life a character that you cannot wait to see be eaten alive, as there is no fooling viewers that the script of Deep Water is insightful or profound; it’s just a big fun and very silly shark movie and there is nothing wrong with that.

The biggest crime that Deep Water commits is the visual effects that largely take any sense of reality out of the film. Yes, there has to be allowances in a film about a group of bloodthirsty sharks feeding on survivors from a plane crash, as you cannot recreate this easily with practical effects and show the level of carnage that the film strives for. And while the CGI driven appearance of sharks jumping out of the water, snatching survivors of the plane crash and chomping on them and turning the water red is something many are willing to forgive in the name of the blood soaked and outrageous shark flick, the other visual effects work to create the environment needed to compensate for this. Instead, the water is stylized to be unnaturally green to the point that it could be mistaken for lime Kool-Aid and appears unnatural in every sense of the word, contrasted poorly to other moments where it appears as regular looking water, and the green screen background of the shots never for a second feels realistic which only makes the rough CGI on the sharks stick out even more.

At the end of the day, Deep Water delivers on the shark infested water mayhem that audiences are seeking for in this film, but at the same time, it is never the experience that audiences deserve. While there is no shortage of exciting moments, from the chaotic plane crash and fist pump worthy shark attack moments that will have more squeamish viewers jumping out of their seats, the film never truly embraces the madness that Renny Harlin has previously shown within the shark horror feature genre and its pulled below the surface by questionable visual effects that removes the bite out of the film.