The Shallows
I noticed a comment from a horror fan regarding how the just released The Shallows (2016) that he/she hated this type of movie. I wasn't sure why but asked to us horror fans what we thought--a message board question--I thought it was a very smart movie to make.
What I responded verbatim:
I think it is a very smart release. Summer. Hot lady in peril. Idyllic setting. Shark. Nothing else out there similar to it this year.
I felt that way the whole time I watched this in the theater on a sweltering summer afternoon on a Mississippi Saturday in June. I'm a fan of the shark movie. Syfy has put out so many stupid shark movies, the genre, popularized significantly by Jaws in the 70s (come on, how could I not mention it???), has been bludgeoned by mediocrity and a comical lack of restraint. Clones and mimicry have bred some bad movies over the years. The Shallows eschews any complexity in its plotting and distills from the genre its true essentials: an attractive setting, an attractive lead, a badass great white with gnarly chompers and a cavernous mouth, a constant sense of dread and impending doom, a very difficult position far away from shore with choice few places to keep away from a carnivorous predator, a cerebral approach to strategically outsmart a shark with the distinct advantage of being large and in charge of its domain, and a wounded heroine losing precious time as her bitten body part needs medical attention badly.
The film has learned from its predecessors. The use of secondary characters to tell us just what Blake Lively is up against as the shark surprises surfers (locals of the "secret place with a concealed name" in a Mexican beach at the end of a trip through a jungle with impressive sized trees which reach towards the heavens at great heights) and a drunk. The use of a murdered whale to temporarily safe herself from the jaws of the shark. Following dolphins (incredible effects work here) to the giant whale carcass (another fine dummy model of the real thing), Lively disturbed the shark's mealtime and put herself in its cross hairs. Once her leg is bitten, bleeding like a stuck pig, Lively seductively draws the bloodthirsty shark to shallower waters closer to shore.
There's a fun finale as Lively determines to make it to a buoy, and how jellyfish come into play is indeed a bit far-fetched but clever. The buoy is certainly a helping device as it has a lockbox containing a flare gun and enough shells to fire into the sky...and at the shark. Sharp, pointy, protruding metal results from the shark's persistent approach and pursuit of Lively. Lively, in survival mode, will use whatever is at her disposal. Sure the screenplay isn't above giving Lively options to make it out, but not without a fight.
A rock formation in a conveniently positioned spot allows Lively to stay just out of harm's way. She even has to use earring and necklace to stitch her shark bite, with parts of her swim suit and ankle brace to tourniquet and conceal the bloody wound. This movie pushes the PG-13 to the brink. When the shark leaps from the water, catching a surfer in his jaws, it is appropriately shocking. The leg wound is especially gory.
But best of all, the movie is intense as it needs to be. It does well to emphasize her out of reach distance from shore, and even the shorter length of the buoy seems so far away. The shots underwater, use of a helmet cam, broken surf boards, a shark tooth found in the camera helmet, supposed help on the shore Lively tries to cry for help and watch in horror as the shark claims them individually, and even a bird with bloody, dislocated wing that keeps Lively company contribute to the film's establishment of its fierce predator and wily heroine. The bird is a star itself!
But this doesn't fail it's intended audience. You want woman in peril? You get it in spades. You want a scary shark? You get it in heavy, plentiful doses. You want a plot that builds suspense and stacks the deck against the heroine? This provides. There's beauty in both the tropical island, the surfing and eye popping waves, and breathtakingly lovely Lively. Just think that Ryan Reynolds gets to wake up to her every morning! The camera knows how sexy she is...damn blessed with smashing good looks. The movie even cleverly shows off a two way conversation between Lively and her sister and dad, not to mention, viewed pics from her phone, visualized on screen along with the lead as she looks at them...we've come a long way in the technological advances of movie magic.
***
What I responded verbatim:
I think it is a very smart release. Summer. Hot lady in peril. Idyllic setting. Shark. Nothing else out there similar to it this year.
I felt that way the whole time I watched this in the theater on a sweltering summer afternoon on a Mississippi Saturday in June. I'm a fan of the shark movie. Syfy has put out so many stupid shark movies, the genre, popularized significantly by Jaws in the 70s (come on, how could I not mention it???), has been bludgeoned by mediocrity and a comical lack of restraint. Clones and mimicry have bred some bad movies over the years. The Shallows eschews any complexity in its plotting and distills from the genre its true essentials: an attractive setting, an attractive lead, a badass great white with gnarly chompers and a cavernous mouth, a constant sense of dread and impending doom, a very difficult position far away from shore with choice few places to keep away from a carnivorous predator, a cerebral approach to strategically outsmart a shark with the distinct advantage of being large and in charge of its domain, and a wounded heroine losing precious time as her bitten body part needs medical attention badly.
The film has learned from its predecessors. The use of secondary characters to tell us just what Blake Lively is up against as the shark surprises surfers (locals of the "secret place with a concealed name" in a Mexican beach at the end of a trip through a jungle with impressive sized trees which reach towards the heavens at great heights) and a drunk. The use of a murdered whale to temporarily safe herself from the jaws of the shark. Following dolphins (incredible effects work here) to the giant whale carcass (another fine dummy model of the real thing), Lively disturbed the shark's mealtime and put herself in its cross hairs. Once her leg is bitten, bleeding like a stuck pig, Lively seductively draws the bloodthirsty shark to shallower waters closer to shore.
There's a fun finale as Lively determines to make it to a buoy, and how jellyfish come into play is indeed a bit far-fetched but clever. The buoy is certainly a helping device as it has a lockbox containing a flare gun and enough shells to fire into the sky...and at the shark. Sharp, pointy, protruding metal results from the shark's persistent approach and pursuit of Lively. Lively, in survival mode, will use whatever is at her disposal. Sure the screenplay isn't above giving Lively options to make it out, but not without a fight.
A rock formation in a conveniently positioned spot allows Lively to stay just out of harm's way. She even has to use earring and necklace to stitch her shark bite, with parts of her swim suit and ankle brace to tourniquet and conceal the bloody wound. This movie pushes the PG-13 to the brink. When the shark leaps from the water, catching a surfer in his jaws, it is appropriately shocking. The leg wound is especially gory.
But best of all, the movie is intense as it needs to be. It does well to emphasize her out of reach distance from shore, and even the shorter length of the buoy seems so far away. The shots underwater, use of a helmet cam, broken surf boards, a shark tooth found in the camera helmet, supposed help on the shore Lively tries to cry for help and watch in horror as the shark claims them individually, and even a bird with bloody, dislocated wing that keeps Lively company contribute to the film's establishment of its fierce predator and wily heroine. The bird is a star itself!
But this doesn't fail it's intended audience. You want woman in peril? You get it in spades. You want a scary shark? You get it in heavy, plentiful doses. You want a plot that builds suspense and stacks the deck against the heroine? This provides. There's beauty in both the tropical island, the surfing and eye popping waves, and breathtakingly lovely Lively. Just think that Ryan Reynolds gets to wake up to her every morning! The camera knows how sexy she is...damn blessed with smashing good looks. The movie even cleverly shows off a two way conversation between Lively and her sister and dad, not to mention, viewed pics from her phone, visualized on screen along with the lead as she looks at them...we've come a long way in the technological advances of movie magic.
***
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