Review: The Shallows is the Best Shark Movie Since Jaws
- Jan 7, 2017
- 2 min read
Shark movies aren’t exactly an uncommon appearance, though they have dwindled in recent years. Ever since 1975’s Jaws, sharks have been regular antagonists in monster films but rarely do such films even come close to what Jaws was. The Shallows though, comes closer than most.
A surfing trip to a secret beach. For some, the perfect getaway, for Nancy (Blake Lively), what began as something special quickly descended into a waking hell. Trapped on a rock just 180 metres from the shore, Nancy must escape for, as the tide rises, it brings with it an enormous great white shark, one intent on making a meal out of her. Injured and alone, except for the charismatic Steven Seagull, she stands against both the sea and the shark, literally stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Blake Lively gives a solid performance as Nancy, and she has to considering two thirds of the film are her talking to herself or a seagull. There are a small number of supporting characters, though most of them exist solely as shark food so it falls to Lively to carry the film, at least from a character standpoint. She attacks the role head on, much like her nemesis, and gives her all it what I imagine to be a challenging shoot.
The shark, and the effects that create it, are equally impressive. It’s big, at least 6 metres long, it’s fast and it won’t stop until Nancy’s either gone or dead. The effects involved in its creation are, for the most part, very well done with its movements flowing seamlessly together. At times it definitely looks fake but, much like Jaws years before, the shark is rarely at the front of the action, though it’s certainly shown off more than Spielberg’s monster.
There’s not a whole lot one can say about The Shallows without dropping major plot points. What I can say is that’s it's fun, and the slowly building tension is expertly done. While at the end of the day it isn’t as good as Jaws, it certainly comes close. A more action oriented shark movie that entertains on a whole different level.
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