Do Fundo do Mar

The problem with shark films is that, once you hear about it, people immediately think of Steven Spielberg's masterpiece Jaws. So how do you approach a shark film without repeating Jaws? The answer is Deep Blue Sea.

Researchers and scientists harvest brain fluids from sharks for a cure for Alzheimer's disease, but unknown to the other scientists, Dr. Susan McAlester(Saffron Burrows) and Dr. Jim Whitlock(Stellan Skarsgard) violated the code of ethics and genetically engineered the sharks to increase their brain size, with the side effect of the sharks getting smarter and bigger.

In a genre full of clichés, this film at least keeps you guessing here and there. What director Renny Harlin establishes is that anyone can die, the whole cast is expendable, and ultimately fodder. However, in doing so he at least allows you to get to know the characters before they're shark food, some more than others. One can understand why Dr. McAlester is so driven for a cure, but ultimately it's all her fault for the events that take place in the film. Thomas Jane is good in the role Carter Blake, who is a shark wrangler. He also somehow magically dodges every shark that comes towards him and rides on their fins like Aquaman. Almost unrealistic, but the movie is so fun you just kinda go along with it and Jane handles the actions scenes quite well. Plus he holds his breath under water like no human can which can be impressive, but again a bit of a stretch. LL Cool J and Michael Rapaport provide sharp wisecracks and provide the film's humor. Samuel L. Jackson also has a decent supporting role as Russell Frankin, the research team's financial backer.

The shark deaths are brutal and unforgiving and may make some uneasy. The problem with this film is that, although the shark attacks are effective, it tries a lot to make you uncomfortable and it becomes too one-noted. Of course in a film like this it's expected. The whole time you have no idea who is going to die next, and those sharks are relentless and a lot more vicious. Director Renny Harlin effectively uses the timing, suspense and the element of surprise so kudos to him. The shark puppets look great, but the same cannot be said for the cgi shark effects, it's dated and doesn't hold up.

Deep Blue Sea is pure popcorn entertainment. The film doesn't necessarily bring anything new to the table, but again it keeps you guessing and at times it keeps you on the edge of your seat. It's an effective shark film, and it tires to be a good film. That's something I can appreciate.

6.5/10

Deep Blue Sea is one of those films that you simply cannot take seriously or you will go out of your mind with annoyance. It seems like the film makers thought about having a plot, but then they found they could have way more fun playing with the CGI Sharks (which are pretty good actually) The conversation between the film makers probably went something like this.

'Hey i have a great idea for a story, we can breed super sharks with oversize brain capacity in the quest to find a cure for Altziemers disease'

'That sounds good, then we can have the sharks get out of control and add some action sequences'

'Yeah good idea, but lets show the scientific side first while we build the characters'

'Yeah of course we have to build the characters and set the scene, wow what's that over there; come and take a look what the special effects team have done it's brilliant'

'Wow that's really cool, lets have lots of that.'

'But what about the story and character depth'

'We could always show the sexy female lead in her underwear, i reckon that and loads of sharks and death will distract the audience enough and they'll never notice'

And so Deep Blue Sea was born, and guess what? It's actually a good laugh and has wall to wall action, sharks and blood; and oh yeah! The female lead gets down to her underwear too, SHOCKER!

Please accept my apologies for the rather corny review, but i felt it was very fitting for this movie.

6/10 By the way Yes i did enjoy it, just in case you were wondering.

I saw DBS for $2.50 on the big screen (cheaper than renting it on video), and on that day I was desiring nothing more than a dumb action flick that would entertain me for about 100 minutes. That's what I got, so I was satisfied.

Still, under different circumstances (higher admission price, wanting something more out of a movie on the day of seeing it, etc.) I probably wouldn't have liked it. The characters were really thin - you hardly learned a thing about them, and they were pretty much interchangable. The dialogue was weak and cliched. The sharks - supposedly intelligent - didn't get much of a chance to show their supposed intelligence. The sets were okay, but still had a look to them that suggested that extra money could have polished them up. The characters commit some really stupid actions along the way.

Wait until you are in the right frame of mind, and it's free or at a low price. Chances are then you'll be acceptably entertained.

After the opening scene of *Deep Blue Sea*, in which (predictably) a shark terrorizes a quartet of partying teenagers on a boat, I decided I was in for a crappy movie. A crappy movie that would contain basically every movie AND horror movie cliche I could think of. I was right. And wrong.

I will say that the premise for this movie is great: super-intelligent sharks. Sharks are bad enough, but...smart sharks? Immediately you have terrifying possibilities running through your mind. The sad fact, though, is that this is one of those movies where the screenwriters (and I can't believe it took three people to come up with this) threw some dice and picked which character was going to die next. That's what the plot boils down to: things go wrong; someone dies. More things go wrong; someone else dies. And so on. People whom you couldn't care less about die. People who you really don't want to see die die.

The people are an interesting band of characters. The female scientist, pleasing to the eye and the ear (I'm a sucker for accents), is utterly consumed by her research. (And for all you testosterone-driven males, she does strip down to her underwear in one scene.) Samuel L. Jackson goes about saying his lines as president of a pharmaceutical company. I just love the way Michael Rapaport talks: he's welcome in any movie. LL Cool J deftly provides the comic relief and was clearly the audience favorite. Sure, there are some other characters, but pretty much everyone's one-dimensional, as expected.

I think I've bashed this movie enough. It's time to get to the crux of the argument: this is an entertaining movie. As soon as the movie entered the lab facility, I became completely immersed in the film. As the movie progressed, I didn't think about how long it had gone on and mentally calculate how much was left. Once the trouble started, the movie grabbed me and never let go. I was not perhaps literally on the edge of my seat, but no outside thoughts penetrated my mind. It's not that the movie is scary or anything; it's that it's suspenseful. Predictably suspenseful, but suspenseful nonetheless. There is one scene in the film (I cannot conclusively tell whether it falls nearer or the beginning or the middle because, as I said, I lost track of time) during which I sensed the ENTIRE AUDIENCE jumping out of their seats. At the risk of getting off on a tangent, the sharks were believable. And the speed at which they moved unnerved me. They did succeed at their purpose: to keep a continual shudder running through my body. Let's just say you couldn't get me within ten miles of that facility. Oh, look, I did get off on a tangent, just great. At times I of course found myself wondering why some of these characters were so unbelievably stupid in their actions, but it's all part of the fun. And that's what I ended up deciding about this movie: it was fun. Blood-soaked, cringe-inducing fun.

Fun film with a good story, great pace and action. One of the best shark "tales" you will encounter. Its not Jaws, but it's pretty high up there. 8/10