This year's summer shark movie is the followup to 2017's 47 METERS DOWN. A sequel only in terms of theme and premise, 47 METERS DOWN: UNCAGED takes the shark movie premise in a new and surprising direction. While I love shark movies, I love monster movies more. I also love horror movies (shock!) with one of my favorites being 2005's THE DESCENT (a horror masterpiece), a film about a group of women trapped in an unexplored cave system and running from a monstrous tribe of cave-dwellers. 47 Meters Down: Uncaged combines all of these elements into a wicked shark movie.
I can't blame anyone for getting one look at this movie and thinking it to be utter trash. The plot sounds ridiculous and it is actually (you're not wrong). But, oh my god, did I enjoy the hell out of this movie.
THE PLOT
A group of four friends explore a newly discovered submerged Mayan city. A cave-in traps the four young women in the flooded ruins leaving them no choice but to explore the labyrinth to find another exit. They soon discover fish and sea life that have been trapped in the underwater city for hundreds of years, evolving to survive in the darkness, including a hungry albino great white shark.
INITIAL IMPRESSIONS
I was prepared for an awful film heading into the theater. And for a while there it seemed like that's exactly what I was going to get. The first ten to fifteen minutes aren't exactly awful but it does come across as rather generic teen movie fluff. But when they enter the cave and we receive our first good look at the submerged Mayan ruins I couldn't help but appreciate the setting. If director Johannes Roberts could boast anything about this film it would be crafting an incredibly potent atmosphere.
Then comes the introduction of the shark. The characters knock over a column in the chamber that kicks up a ton of sediment, creating cloudy waters and low visibility. It is in these murky waters that the albino shark swims into view, ghost-like, blending in against the dirty water. The shot is amazing and if you aren't paying attention you'll miss it. From that moment I was hooked. But what really blew me away with this movie was how well the film sustained the tension and crafted the scares. There were numerous moments that had me jumping (me! a guy who watches horror movies over and over!). I felt the suspense and terror was well sustained throughout the remainder of the film.
And the shark. Oh how I love the shark. It was more than just a shark. It was a genuine monster. The movie doesn't just present the fish as just your common hungry great white shark. This shark has a unique, seemingly malevolent personality. First off, it looks rather unnerving with its blind eyes, scars, and the way the light reflects off it. And their white eyes are completely unnerving. Second, the way it moves and the way it swims is different than regular great whites. It moves slowly giving it a creepy, almost zombie-like persona. As a fan of monsters, sharks, and horror, the albino sharks here terrified me and landed very well with me.
The movie, like the Descent once again, manages to be scary without the sharks which adds greatly to the tension. The music by tomandandy was also well done and utilized to great effect. It's not a soundtrack that I'd like to listen to on its own but combined with the visuals it creates an amazing sound design for the film. Other than the screaming tetra fish (you read that right) the sound design in this film is a high point.
The ending of this movie leans hard into the ridiculous and outlandish with full on "slow-mo" action shots, fearless hero moments, and just balls to the wall insanity. I could see the ending going too far for some people. I just went with it, I was enjoying myself after all, and found it to be a great way to end one ridiculous movie. Just nuts, but oh so awesome too.
Overall Ranking: 7 out of 10
I know, I enjoyed this movie way too much, probably more than any sane person should. This year seems to be the year of the B Movie for me as I have enjoyed most of these that I've seen this year. I still feel that The Shallows is still reigning champion for this latest batch of legit shark films, but wow did I enjoy this movie. We'll see if the summer shark movie tradition continues beyond this film though. If not, hopefully killer alligator movies like CRAWL will take up the baton (if you haven't seen Crawl I highly suggest you do).
For more of the Shark movies and similar style movie fare check out these other posts below
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