47 Meters Down (2017) Review!!!

Synopsis – Two sisters vacationing in Mexico are trapped in a shark cage at the bottom of the ocean. With less than an hour of oxygen left and great white sharks circling nearby, they must fight to survive.

My Take –It’s been a while since we had some modest budgeted yet well produced underwater based horror films (nope the Sharknado films don’t count), until last summer’s delicious shark derring-do The Shallows starring Blake Lively came along. After the success of the Jaume Collet-Serra directed venture, it appears that we could possibly be entering a phase in which shark films are coming back to the big screen during the summer months. Enter this Johannes Roberts directed film, which offers a novel, tense, at times claustrophobic great white film that will leave you gasping for air. It’s surprising to know that this film, previous titled In the Deep, has been rattling around the market for a while—actress Mandy Moore completed her role in the picture even prior to beginning work on NBC freshman hit This Is Us, which debuted in 2016 and has been on TV long enough to have become a hit show. This film originally produced for Dimension Films, the motion picture company owned by the Weinsteins, who scheduled to release the film directly to DVD and video-on-demand services back in August 2016, but for some reason the film was sold out to Entertainment Studios rethought the straight-to-video notion, and opted to release the picture to theaters for the summertime 2017 audience, due to the success of that Blake Lively vehicle. While, I do agree, the set up doesn’t sound all that original, and as such I expected a cheesy B-rated film to just pass a lazy Thursday night, but boy was I presently surprised.

If you expect rampant plot twists and character development, you must not see this type of film often. It is what it is and it knows that. Despite the only real mystery being which of the girls survives, if any, or perhaps both, the film actually manages to provide a refreshing twist. Thankfully, this film’s set up is quite different to The Shallows, & in comparison may not be as entertaining, still the 89 minute epic will keep you poised on the edge of your seat as you gnaw your knuckles in dread. The story follows Lisa (Mandy Moore) who along with Kate (Claire Holt), her sister arrives in Mexico on vacation. Distraught over the fact that Lisa’s boyfriend Stuart dumped her due to the lack of spontaneity in their relationship, Kate coaxes her withdrawn sister back out of her shell, and after hanging out with a couple of local guys, Louis (Yani Gellman) and Benjamin (Santiago Segura), for diversion, the two follow are pursued to join an underwater adventure led by Captain Taylor (Matthew Modine), who offers underwater shark sightseeing excursions. Despite apprehensions, Lisa agrees and follows Kate into a cage and after only diving 5 meters down get face to face with a shark. However, when their cage cable breaks away, the two are dropped down 47 meters. With limited air supply and the dangers of sharks swimming around their area, the two have to figure out a way to overcome their situation or face certain death. Believe it or not, the picture actually works quite well at what it sets out to do, which is to manipulate and terrify the audience. No, it’s not Oscar-worthy material and will probably never be a classic like the original Jaws, but the film succeeds where most survival/ horror films fail. It stays within the realm of “believability”. Aside from the sheer stupidity of two young women going shark diving with two strange men in a foreign country, on a mysterious fishing boat no less, the part of the film that counts, the disaster-survival part, I could totally see happening in real life. Beautifully photographed by Mark Silk and edited with a breathtaking tempo by Martin Brinkler, the film succeeds handily where more expensive supposedly terror inducing films such as this year’s Alien: Covenant, Life, and Rings faltered—providing entertainment for an audience seeking a roller-coaster ride of thrills of excitement. If this film is summertime trash, at least it’s great summertime trash. After a picture as impressive as this, much like young Steven Spielberg after Jaws, Johannes Roberts might be a director to keep an eye on. The director does a great job of telling the story in a dark, murky underwater setting. And once the disaster strikes the pacing is fast, but at only 89 minutes long, it has to be.

There are several exciting scenes in the film because the main priority is to survive, but not much can be done if you stay inside the cage and wait for help to find you. Of course, obstacles appear, people disappear, and sharks come and go, usually taking something or someone along with them. It’s not an easy way up because you can’t rush without risking getting the bends. With sharks attacking from nowhere there are some genuine jump scares which are heightened by the sound design and background score. Mark Silk’s cinematography really shines, not just on the surface but below water. It’s not just the confines of the cage that add chills, it’s the vast ocean open space, the silence of being submerged and void beyond the sea cliff’s edge. Notable there’s a scene with their radios out of range; Lisa tries to communicate with the surface leaving her venerable in the endless salt water, going beyond the sea floor cliffs edge later underwater Kate swims, stopping on top of a protruding rock deep below the blue sea. The unseen giants overshadow each move the women make with the threat of an attack at any moment. Every time the sisters leave the cage you feel the edgy chill of the imposing sharks. There’s not much characterization except for an explanation about what motivates these two girls to do what they do. There are a couple of surprises as to who manages to be luckier and who survives. This is a time when the women are in charge in a manner of speaking, and guys just hang and wait, except for one who finds more than he expected. Just when the gals imagine they are alone, a Great White materializes unexpectedly with cavernous jaws ajar! Although several peripheral characters inhabit this PG-13 epic, the action focuses largely on the sisters. These sympathetic souls never get a break, and you may experience anxiety as they deal with one setback after another. The film has its high point though during the “twist” ending. In fact I would have liked to see the film end right at the reveal of the twist. However, what can’t be praised are the lines these characters throw around. We’re constantly being told what they are feeling, rather than being shown. “I’m frightened,” “I’m embarrassed,” “I’m sad.” The dialogue is just flat an uninteresting and the exposition that is presented is often completely contradicted. It always baffles me when films create their own inconsistencies this way. Performance wise, Mandy Moore and Claire Holt are both decent with their characters, considering their performances took place mostly underwater. Matthew Modine is alright in his limited screen time. On the whole, ’47 Meters Down’ is a good survival thriller with enough material to keep you invested.