Review: 47 Meters Down In An Amateur's Checklist
- Aug 14, 2017
- 2 min read
Have you ever watched a movie that's so by the numbers that you can predict, quite literally, every event with near pin-point accuracy? I have...
Two sisters, whose names I forgot the moment I was told them (Claire Holt & Mandy Moore) are holidaying in Mexico. Wanting to escape the parties and drinking, they head out to sea with two Mexicans they met less than 24 hours earlier, to go shark diving. Of course, if everything went well, there wouldn't be much of a movie, so everything goes wrong and the girls find themselves trapped in a shark cage with sharks...nowhere to be seen until the movie feels like checking something else off the list.
Protagonist thinks it's safe but the the creature attacks, missing them by inches? ☑
Excessive close ups of screaming women? ☑
Shining bright lights in the face of the audience to distract them from poor effects? ☑
Sudden light source reveals numerous creatures about to devour the hero?☑
Repeating every tense moment at least once? ☑
Fake out ending? ☑
Random fact dump that comes back to be true later ☑
You might be getting the idea at this point. Every cliche, every trope, every single thing that is ever done in creature horror is on display here, and the best part is, it's boring.
How can a movie about sharks relentlessly attacking to women trapped in a cage be boring you might ask. Well, maybe it was the ridiculous amount of close ups, excessive shaky cam or total lack of sharks actually attacking people until the end of the movie. Or it could have simply been the fact that this movie has been done before, and been done far better.
If you want a 2017 shark thriller/horror set in Mexico, watch The Shallows. If you just want a really good movie that happens to include a shark, watch Jaws. But please, whatever you do, don't watch the mind numbing, by the numbers excuse of a movie that calls itself 47 Meters Down.
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