Just when you think it's safe to go back in the water. Or to another shark movie.
Confession: I don't always care for nature-gone-wild horror, because most direct-to-video releases in the genre are usually trash. They have to meet fairly specific criteria for me to like them. I'd recommend a few, though, especially The Birds (1963) and Rogue (2007), though others are certainly prominently displayed on my shelves! This one exceeds my needs. Don't get me wrong: It's not a perfect shark movie, though it's arguably more perfect than any other I've seen. It's not the best summer blockbusting thriller ever, even probably this year. You'd have to look to Jaws for that kind of thong. ...Er, thing.
What is it about The Shallows? Is it Blake Lively spending most of her time looking sharp in a bikini? That's a hard point to disparage. Is it the fresh, new way of showing danger under the surface in a shark movie? Ain't nothing fresh or new about it, except in the magnificent visual effects and confident cinematography and editing. Is it the excessively violent, bloody thrill brought on by razor teeth and dozens of collateral deaths? Actually this one's pretty damn tame in terms of gore, with one notable exception when Lively stitches herself together with a hook and necklace.
The only problem I had with this movie (besides director Jaume Collet-Serra's lingering gaze on Lively's nether skin) is its rating. It should have gone hard R. No nudity, no language, none of that. I'm talking about just a little more biting, thrashing, visceral terror. This goes safe PG-13, and it subsequently suffers. I don't want gore porn here, but a tad more sizzle would have brought fire to this damp escapade.
And I'm not saying it's not scary. I shrieked a little bit, and I thought twice about getting in the lake afterward. But, frankly, given that it's 2016, I was hoping to see more shark attack and less Lively's fearful face as we hear the shark chomping off camera. Perhaps if we were looking at a better actress convey the horrors of the lagoon, the artsy approach would have paid off. But we're talking about Blake Lively. She surprised me with the role in that, while her emotion is inconsistent, her athleticism is astonishing.
Speaking of artsy, the director's approach to everything except Lively's body is just wonderful. At first, he lures us in with the pretense that the film is another mindless summer escapist thriller aimed at teens, as the second scene looks more like a cell phone advertisement than a movie. Then he wows us with impossibly gorgeous slow-motion shots of surfing in pristine waters. Even late in the film, his awe for the ocean's beauty is so opaque it leads to distraction. And as the final credits begin, the color-warped images of waves and froth remind us more of psychedelic stylizations than a horror film about shark attacks. Similarly, Marco Beltrami definitely overscored the film, but I wouldn't say it's ever abrasive or unwelcome.
For solid summer entertainment, you could do little better. It's fabulously intelligent (not in dialogue, but in pacing, editing, and action). It's got a badass woman hero (though I confess to have rooted for the shark now and again). It doesn't take much thought, it absorbs you with its beauty, and its endlessly entertaining premise proves itself worthy in delivery.
Go on, take a dip.
IMDb: The Shallows
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