Open Water 3: Cage Dive

So many bad judgment calls. Just cheered on the sharks!

I've seen a fair share of shark movies(about a dozen), and decided to give this one a chance despite the low ratings. Making a good shark movie isn't easy, and the same goes for found footage films. So with this in mind I did not expect too much of it and just hoped for some good shark footage and maybe some nice shark attack aftermath images.

Without spoiling what happens, there will be sharks! Yes! And they look real and credible. Any use of cgi looks pretty good, no obvious rubber or pixelated sharks. This is the best part of the film.

Sadly the rest of the movie is filled with a really bad plot carried out by 3 unlikable selfish characters. The acting isn't awful, but the story and dialogue are. And it doesn't compliment their dull characters.

Maybe the director should make a "sharks only cut". Because that's all worth seeing.

This movie was not horrible, but could not hold a candle to the previous two. I must say,the actors were quite good. I really enjoyed the first to Open Water movies, so I figured this one would be good, too. First, it is done in documentary format (unlike the previous ones). This makes it choppy and adds some dull scenes that seem like filler. Secondly, the cinematography was so bad, it made me seasick. Third, they should have built up the capsize scene of the boat and the monstrous wave - it lasted about 2 seconds, and we never saw it coming. Last, and most importantly, it just lacked suspense. This could have been a good movie - the premise and the cast were good. Not the worst movie I have seen, but those who loved the first two will be disappointed in this. I do feel the kids had good chemistry and did a good acting job.

Open Water 3: Cage Dive (2017)

** (out of 4)

Jeff, Josh and Megan (Joel Hogan, Josh Potthoff, Megan Pelta Hill) are three friends from California who take a trip to Australia where they plan on trying out for a reality show. While there they decide to go cage diving with great white sharks but a freak wave tips over the boat and soon the three are stranded in the middle of the ocean.

This film was made as simply CAGE DIVE but I'm guessing when it was bought for its American release it had OPEN WATER 3 slapped to it. For the most part I enjoyed the first film in the series but the second one wasn't nearly as good, although it did remain slightly entertaining. Part three is when the magic runs out and there are a number of issues with the picture but what kept me turned off the most were the characters.

I will say that all three actors do a good job with their roles but that didn't make me like these people. I mean, they're basically very shallow and annoying people and when it comes to a "lost footage" movie you need to like the people you're spending the time with. Sadly I didn't enjoy their company and especially since a lot of the time they were doing extremely stupid things. I know, in order for a horror film to work you need dumb characters. I'm not going to spoil what exactly happens but I guarantee you will know the scene I'm talking about when it happens.

Another problem with the movie is the fact that it's really not that scary or intense. I'm sure some of this has to do with the fact that I didn't like the characters but the attack scenes aren't all that scary on their own and I'd argue that I never really felt as if they were under attack by these sharks. OPEN WATER 3 isn't an awful movie because it did keep me slightly into what was going on but once the movie was over and I started thinking back on it I ended up finding more and more issues with it.

I enjoyed this movie more than I thought I would. After reading some of the reviews I nearly gave it a miss, but being a big fan of shark movies I decided to give it a chance. Despite the cover leading you to think the sharks are a fanciful size, the actual shark footage was believable and thankfully not overdone.

This is a standalone movie but I would put it on a par with the first Open Water movie and I liked it much more than the ridiculous Open Water 2. The acting was good and while some parts dragged on there was enough (including a few jump scares) to keep you invested in the story.

Some reviews have compared this with "The Shallows" and while this movie is different in many ways it was refreshing that the sharks weren't single-minded in their efforts to get their prey. This movie doesn't pretend to be a masterpiece but certainly has some good moments and is worth a viewing.

The very low and very high reviews are hard to take seriously and despite some of the more annoying moments I reckon it's a solid 6 out of 10.