DEEP WATER
Starring: Aaron Eckhart, Ben Kingsley, Molly Belle Wright, Angus Sampson, and Lucy Barrett
Director: Renny Harlin
NICK
Considering Renny Harlin directed one of my favourite shark films, Deep Blue Sea, I gave him the benefit of the doubt. Unfortunately, the word "Deep" is the only commonality between that film and his latest, Deep Water. Filled with comically insatiable sharks, poor CGI, and plenty of underwritten characters, Harlin fails to bring anything new to the genre. In fact, much like Netflix's Thrash, it’s the non-shark aspects which highlight the film as the opening plane crash makes for a thrilling and well-constructed set piece; had the rest of the film kept that energy, this could’ve succeeded. Not a good month for shark films.
ROBERT
Deep Water was only able to elicit one emotion from me: bewilderment. I am perplexed as to why this movie exists, why the top-billed actors agreed to do it, and how Renny Harlin lost the plot while making this type of film. This needed to be campy, a la Snakes on a Plane, but it took itself WAY too seriously and suffered incredibly for it. Somehow, shark rendering has gotten worse over time, and it showed throughout, which undercut the danger without any amusement. I think the civilized world may be rewarded if this was lost at sea with no chance of rescue.
