47 Meters Down

47 Meters Down is a highly claustrophobic shark movie starring Mandy Moore and Matthew Modine but it's flaws are quite unique.

Telling the story of two girls who go into a shark cage in Mexico to see the great whites but fall into peril when the chain snaps and they're plunged into darkness.

Let me say that visually the movie is incredible and is one of the most claustrophobic heart pounding films I've seen in years. You feel for these ladies, the movie gets across the panic, severity and time restrictions very well and it taps into something which makes me personally feel very uncomfortable.

But, and it's a big but the movie's logistics are dumbfoundingly stupid and defy logic. What I mean by that is that nobody involved bothered doing any research into oxygen at these depths, what is done here not only isn't possible but is to moronic science fiction levels. It quite frankly insults the intelligence of the viewer.

If you can get past that (And I couldn't) it's quite a memorable little film that looks great, has passable performances (I've always liked Moore) and is fairly unique.

If they'd done some research and applied it to the film then this would have been a lot better. However if they had then this would have had to be a different film altogether to be even remotely realistic.

The Good:

Looks incredible

Sets the tone perfectly

Mandy Moore

Unique stuff

The Bad:

Offensively unrealistic

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.

It's summer again;  it's a shark movie.  Lisa and Kate are two sisters on holiday in Mexico with one grieving a lost relationship and the other looking for fun.  Against their better judgement they go shark cage diving 5 metres below a vessel that looks like it should have been in the salvage yard 20 years ago.  After a mechanical failure the cage plummets down to the sea bed..... (Go on, how deep? Have a guess.  Go on, go on, go on ...)

With sharks circling and air running low, will the girls survive their ordeal?  

Last year, one of the surprise movies of the year for me was "The Shallows", which I really enjoyed.  A tense, well made yarn held together by a solid performance by Blake Lively and with a genuine escalation of tension (albeit let down by a poor ending). 

"47 Metres Down" differs from that film in three major respects:  B- movie acting, from Mandy Moore and Claire Holt (with Holt being significantly better than Moore); a screenplay by Johannes Roberts and Ernest Riera that is both ponderous and unbelievable; and dialogue that is at times truly execrable.  

The film really takes its time to get to the 'sharp end' (as it were). Once there, the actions of the girls are so clinically stupid that they are deserving of Darwin Award nominations. Fortunately, the IQs of the sharks (well realised as CGI by Outpost VFX) are only marginally greater:  the sharks will appear and then go away for ten minutes at a time, just so that the implausible plot can progress unmolested.

These films always need an escalator for the tension:  in "The Shallows" it was the rising tide; in this film it is the air supply. This element works well and adds an additional element of claustrophobia to the film that is already at 11 on the scale (you surely don't need me to tell you that claustrophobics need to avoid this film!). 

Much of the dialogue is expository regarding what is going on in the darkness and is so repetitive ("We ARE going to get out of here Kate!") that it would make a good drinking game.  The worst dialogue award though goes to Matthew Modine ("Memphis Belle") who's repeated medical descriptions of "the bends" becomes mildly comical - I literally got a fit of the giggles at one point.

I'm not going to completely savage the film though, since there IS a nice twist to the ending, albeit one that's heavily signposted.  And instead of reaching constantly for the classic "Ben's head in the boat" jump scare, the film occasionally teases the audience with set- ups that ultimately just feature murky water and nothing more. 

My recommendation:  if you've not yet seen "The Shallows", check that out on DVD and give this one a miss.

(For the graphical version of this review please visit bob-the-movie- man.com. Thanks).

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

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.