Deep Blue Sea Review
by Jon Ridge (jonridge AT earthlink DOT net)July 30th, 1999
" Deep Blue Sea " * *
There is a special-effects second or two in DEEP BLUE SEA that makes the rest of the film stick out like a sore thumb. Samuel L. Jackson rambles incoherently, beginning
to raise his voice (in true SLJ fashion), about a botched... avalanche mission (?), only to be rudely interrupted mid- diatribe. I'm not sure if this was itended as a bit of self-referential parody - like, even non-human species' can't stand bad dialogue - but that one, left field jolt
has more wit and humor than a dozen animated sharks or dismembered bodies which litter the rest of DBS.
I'd like to compliment the local chain where I saw
this film, on Wednesday. General Cinema, on 6th and Pine, in Seattle: great projection/picture quality; vivid color; great sound; nice, panoramic screen. Maybe it was just
that I saw one of the first showings of the day, I don't know. Sometimes, extraneous elements like these can influence your viewing experience to the degree you find yourself enjoying a film - even though, objectively speaking, it sucks otherwise, probably. And, I guess that's the case with DEEP BLUE. The premise is nifty: six strangers stuck in
an oceanic research facility, headed by Saffron "could-I-look- more-bored" Burrows, which is filling up with water, floor by floor. "We'll go down, to go up," they decide. But, how; what with man-eating Mako at every turn. Swim 200 feet to the surface and, having successfully held your breath, there would still be the sharks to contend with until you've gotten safely out of the water. Not to mention avoiding them during the ascent. Because they move lightning fast, these sharks, whereas an average person can only swim "two feet per second". Not good odds. Plan B: stay put, and be killed via the eminent flood, or a set of razors for teeth, whichever comes first.
The scenario reminded me, in a way, of the husband/wife scene from THE ABYSS, when they came to the realization that one of them was going to drown. DBS has none of that tension or impact, but the idea's there.
Also, the film looks fabulous. Visual highlights include a monkey-bar routine from a ladder, as water rises from below and fireballs drip from high overhead; an underwater explosion, seen through a fence; the death of a parrot; an aerial shot of Aquatica, at sunset. The shark attacks are explicit (check that twitching foot), but not over the top; no need to get gross. The cinema- tography, I forget who by, is often stunning.
Yet, alas, looks are not everything. Uh uh, not with this measure of profoundly stilted dialogue ("Who ya gonna trust? Me. Cuz, I'm trust-worthy"), and performances this bland; Thomas Jane is an expressionless actor - though nowhere the league of Viggo Mortensen - to avoid... not to self. The prologue, about reactivating brain cells, feels profunctory and interminable. And the action, when it comes, isn't nearly the envelope-pushing sort I expect from Renny Harlin (I'm thinking, LONG KISS GOODNIGHT... and scratching my head).
In an interview, for Entertainment Tonight (I believe), preceding the movie, Director Harlin described DEEP BLUE SEA as "JAWS for the next generation". Nope.
Best line: tie; "You think water moves fast? You should see ice."
"Alright, people. These sharks are thinking, hard and clear."
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
