Movie Review: THE SHALLOWS

Capitalizing on the upcoming television phenom known as “Shark Week” (sorry, I never got it), a new film starring Blake Lively and directed by Jaume Collet-Serra called The Shallows hits theaters today.

Menacing shark films are sort of few and far between. Probably because Spielberg did such an amazing job with Jaws that there really wasn’t any way to top the suspense that comes from that film. The only thing that could be done is to financially benefit from Spielberg’s masterpiece which Italian producers and directors had no issue with doing and American distributors had no problem with picking up and giving birth to “sharksploitation”. The majority of these films are pretty boring but there are a few that are off-the-rails crazy and fun to watch.

Jaume Collet-Serra’s The Shallows has elements of exploitation – a few titillating shots of Blake Lively’s assets and a couple of “jump” scares – and after the first attack scene, it’s relevant that realistic logic needs to be thrown out the window. The shark gets a taste of Nancy and wants more, regardless of the huge dead whale that it has already attacked. I guess humans taste better. For the most part, it is Blake Lively’s character of Nancy vs. the elements and this asshole of a shark who just won’t let her get off the only thing that is saving her from being eaten, a rock.

Lively does a good job with making the audience really like her. The highlight of where she strikes a chord with the audience takes place in the truck ride in with a native of the area. Collet-Serra also flaunts off something that is being used more often, graphics that show what Nancy is seeing on her phone. In this case, it is pictures of Nancy and her mother who has a tie to this secret beach that Nancy wants to surf at. I believe that Nancy’s mother came to this beach when she found out she was pregnant with Nancy but it isn’t really mentioned more than once, if at all (could be my imagination to make sense out of this). There are more CG graphics that are utilized in the film to show the passage of time and to carry the narrative, including a pretty interesting scene where Nancy times out how long it takes for the shark, that help some of the pacing of the film.

There are more CG graphics that are utilized in the film to show the passage of time and to carry the narrative, including a pretty interesting scene where Nancy times out how long it takes for the shark to circle the rock she is stuck on for the majority of the film. Where the film falters a bit is that the suspense/action is all in moments when Nancy is trying to get back to shore so every “escape scene” gets repetitive. This makes the pacing a bit off and it doesn’t help when Nancy is having moments on the rock or with her new friend, Steven Seagull (yes, there is a seagull named Steven).

There is also a family dynamic where Nancy just needs to be at this beach because this is “what Mom would’ve wanted” that feels very smalzy, cheap and generic. Honestly, it drags down the film a little bit – especially because it is heavy handed and ends the film. Also, some of the CGI in this film feels outdated and is laughable.

As I’m sure you are aware, Blake Lively is married to Ryan Reynolds and if you want my advice, watch Buried instead to watch a harrowing tale about one character trying to survive a harrowing situation.