A mediocre shark thriller. It's packed with bad dialogue and eye-rolling moments (particularly the last few minutes - there would have been no downside to just cutting them entirely), but it does have some moments of tension and a couple of effective scares.
I'm certainly not going to complain about being asked to spend and hour and a half with Mandy Moore and Claire Holt (They're incredibly charming and display a great deal of chemistry as the beleaguered Sisters). But the film they're asked to carry isn't the success it could have been.
That's not for lack of effort. Some things the film definitely has in spades are production value and an impressive display of underwater filmmaking--which is never anything less than daunting. There's also a number of moments of effective tension and thrills. And lest anyone forget, we also get the great Matthew Modine. Although it's anyone's guess why he took such a minuscule role. (My guess would be the paycheck and a chance to hangout in the Dominican Republic.) He still makes good on what little he's given to work with. Of course, that "little to work with" is the big problem.
Choosing to spend nearly the entire movie under water makes some narrative sense, but I'm not sure the film wouldn't have been better served by expanding a bit. Most of what we get is thinly drawn and the filmmakers seemed more enamored with late film plot twists than character arcs and storytelling. A lot of fuss has been made over the ending, but personally I was more troubled by the choices the film made in order to set that up. Choices that basically made the thematic journey of our leads inert.
It's still a fun watch though. And an original idea, executed with skill. But if anything, it shows the limitations of this particular sub genre. A sameness starts to creep in and we've all seen enough Shark Week to know when the behavior we're seeing on film, doesn't quite jive with the reality we get on all of those Discovery Channel Documentaries. That won't stop the next half dozen sequels though.
I basically watched 47 Meters Down to convince myself not to spend money on the sequel (which turns out has nothing to do with the first one except they're both underwater survival flicks with shark jump scares, so I might not have bothered). Mission accomplished, though it provides a fair distraction. It's just not much of a story, is all. There's only one character with much of a background, and that's Mandy Moore, the "most boring" of two sisters who is goaded into getting in a cage and dropped into a feeding frenzy with her adventurous sibling, despite her (well-rendered) panic attacks. There's no much of an arc, even for her, and I feel like the movie really needed more of an epilogue to bring us back from its third act, which jerks us around like it's a shark that has us by the leg. All the other characters are pure vanilla, with nothing to bring but their function in the situation, even Matthew Modine who, as the dodgy boat captain, isn't much more than an exposition machine. And the sharks are just kind of there, sometimes aggressive killers, sometimes completely absent, as the script demands. Interesting problem, but because the film doesn't play fair with the audience, I can't really recommend it to anyone but the most ardent fans of the subgenre.
“Lisa, you need to calm down.
We need to get out of here!
If you do not calm down, we will die here!”
In “The Shallows“, Blake Lively at least had a rock in the ocean on which she sat safely while a huge shark circled around her. That was frightening enough. In “47 Meters down” two helpless woman are trapped in a steel cage while being attacked by such bloodthirsty white sharks. And there’s another problem they have to deal with. Oxygen deficiency. There are more pleasant ways to spend your holiday somewhere at an exotic destination. So you see it’s better to follow your instinct (or someone else’s) in such a way that you are spared from such life-threatening situations.
At first I feared this wouldn’t be such a very interesting film. A whole movie taking place in one and the same location (the bottom of the ocean) and with only two helpless young ladies who had no idea how to escape. “It won’t be more than some panicky scenes and a screen filled with anxiously produced air bubbles” I thought. Well, just another proove that a person can be mistaken. Eventually, this movie was terribly exciting.
Two sisters, Lisa (Mandy Moore) and Kate (Claire Holt), are on vacation in Mexico and after a night out with two local gigolo’s they are invited to descend into the ocean with the help of a shark cage. The only requirement is them answering affirmatively to the following question : Are they experienced scuba divers? This already says a lot about the professionalism of this organization. As a down-to-earth, realistic person, I would draw a line there and turn my brown-bronzed back on this suspiciously smelling trip. But above all, I would never accept this offer, knowing that I’ve never inhaled a liter of oxygen under water. I would immediately get a panic attack. No problem for these ladies. Lisa has no experience at all, but her reliable sister knows how to convince her. If she dares to do this, she can prove to her ex-boyfriend that she isn’t so boring. So, Kate misses some sense of responsibility and Lisa a lot of brain cells. Or else the Tequila had something to do with it.
It isn’t necessary to elaborate more. You can predict what will happen. What else to expect when a not so professional-looking crew on a rickety boat lets you sink into the water while they use bloody bait to lure the sharks (which also turns out to be illegal) ? Indeed, before they know it, they are building sandcastles on the bottom of the ocean and a nerve-racking race against time starts. The images themselves are impressive and realistic. The claustrophobic feeling overwhelms you. And the panic and fear of both divers (especially Lisa) is credible. Actual acting is of course not possible when you’re floating around at 47 meters below the water surface. The darkness and the thought of a full-blown “Jaws” attacking you from there, causes the necessary stress and frightening moments.
Still a few points of criticism. Turns out that a single drop of blood from a wound is enough to attract such a gigantic shark. But when they suddenly try to attack out of the dark, they miss the helpless victim. I immediately conclude that such a shark must have a gigantic, well-developed olfactory organ. But besides that, such a shark is as blind as a mole. Furthermore, I found the computer animation of this predatory fish not quite successful. But I thought the same of the crumpled plastic shark in “The Shallows”. And the denouement is also something that you can discuss. And I doubt whether the event is scientifically correct.
But all in all, this was a pretty exciting underwater thriller, Cousteau would be happy to watch as well. And apparently there’s already a sequel in the making with the highest original title “48 Meters down“. So the problem will arise just a meter deeper. That’s what pushing boundaries means, I suppose! And for all of those who have plans for future distant journeys, a little advice. Stay safely by the swimming pool and do only excursions organized by the hotel. And get a proper travel insurance before you leave.
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Comments 1 - 7 of 7
Chris Chambers
They should've checked the Yelp reviews.ChrisReynolds
A mediocre shark thriller. It's packed with bad dialogue and eye-rolling moments (particularly the last few minutes - there would have been no downside to just cutting them entirely), but it does have some moments of tension and a couple of effective scares.missflower
The ending is justMrtrick
I'm certainly not going to complain about being asked to spend and hour and a half with Mandy Moore and Claire Holt (They're incredibly charming and display a great deal of chemistry as the beleaguered Sisters). But the film they're asked to carry isn't the success it could have been.That's not for lack of effort. Some things the film definitely has in spades are production value and an impressive display of underwater filmmaking--which is never anything less than daunting. There's also a number of moments of effective tension and thrills. And lest anyone forget, we also get the great Matthew Modine. Although it's anyone's guess why he took such a minuscule role. (My guess would be the paycheck and a chance to hangout in the Dominican Republic.) He still makes good on what little he's given to work with. Of course, that "little to work with" is the big problem.
Choosing to spend nearly the entire movie under water makes some narrative sense, but I'm not sure the film wouldn't have been better served by expanding a bit. Most of what we get is thinly drawn and the filmmakers seemed more enamored with late film plot twists than character arcs and storytelling. A lot of fuss has been made over the ending, but personally I was more troubled by the choices the film made in order to set that up. Choices that basically made the thematic journey of our leads inert.
It's still a fun watch though. And an original idea, executed with skill. But if anything, it shows the limitations of this particular sub genre. A sameness starts to creep in and we've all seen enough Shark Week to know when the behavior we're seeing on film, doesn't quite jive with the reality we get on all of those Discovery Channel Documentaries. That won't stop the next half dozen sequels though.
Siskoid
I basically watched 47 Meters Down to convince myself not to spend money on the sequel (which turns out has nothing to do with the first one except they're both underwater survival flicks with shark jump scares, so I might not have bothered). Mission accomplished, though it provides a fair distraction. It's just not much of a story, is all. There's only one character with much of a background, and that's Mandy Moore, the "most boring" of two sisters who is goaded into getting in a cage and dropped into a feeding frenzy with her adventurous sibling, despite her (well-rendered) panic attacks. There's no much of an arc, even for her, and I feel like the movie really needed more of an epilogue to bring us back from its third act, which jerks us around like it's a shark that has us by the leg. All the other characters are pure vanilla, with nothing to bring but their function in the situation, even Matthew Modine who, as the dodgy boat captain, isn't much more than an exposition machine. And the sharks are just kind of there, sometimes aggressive killers, sometimes completely absent, as the script demands. Interesting problem, but because the film doesn't play fair with the audience, I can't really recommend it to anyone but the most ardent fans of the subgenre.Earring72
Thin idea is milked to 85 minutes. Full of bad dialogue and an absolutely dreadfull endingikkegoemikke
“Lisa, you need to calm down.We need to get out of here!
If you do not calm down, we will die here!”
In “The Shallows“, Blake Lively at least had a rock in the ocean on which she sat safely while a huge shark circled around her. That was frightening enough. In “47 Meters down” two helpless woman are trapped in a steel cage while being attacked by such bloodthirsty white sharks. And there’s another problem they have to deal with. Oxygen deficiency. There are more pleasant ways to spend your holiday somewhere at an exotic destination. So you see it’s better to follow your instinct (or someone else’s) in such a way that you are spared from such life-threatening situations.
At first I feared this wouldn’t be such a very interesting film. A whole movie taking place in one and the same location (the bottom of the ocean) and with only two helpless young ladies who had no idea how to escape. “It won’t be more than some panicky scenes and a screen filled with anxiously produced air bubbles” I thought. Well, just another proove that a person can be mistaken. Eventually, this movie was terribly exciting.
Two sisters, Lisa (Mandy Moore) and Kate (Claire Holt), are on vacation in Mexico and after a night out with two local gigolo’s they are invited to descend into the ocean with the help of a shark cage. The only requirement is them answering affirmatively to the following question : Are they experienced scuba divers? This already says a lot about the professionalism of this organization. As a down-to-earth, realistic person, I would draw a line there and turn my brown-bronzed back on this suspiciously smelling trip. But above all, I would never accept this offer, knowing that I’ve never inhaled a liter of oxygen under water. I would immediately get a panic attack. No problem for these ladies. Lisa has no experience at all, but her reliable sister knows how to convince her. If she dares to do this, she can prove to her ex-boyfriend that she isn’t so boring. So, Kate misses some sense of responsibility and Lisa a lot of brain cells. Or else the Tequila had something to do with it.
It isn’t necessary to elaborate more. You can predict what will happen. What else to expect when a not so professional-looking crew on a rickety boat lets you sink into the water while they use bloody bait to lure the sharks (which also turns out to be illegal) ? Indeed, before they know it, they are building sandcastles on the bottom of the ocean and a nerve-racking race against time starts. The images themselves are impressive and realistic. The claustrophobic feeling overwhelms you. And the panic and fear of both divers (especially Lisa) is credible. Actual acting is of course not possible when you’re floating around at 47 meters below the water surface. The darkness and the thought of a full-blown “Jaws” attacking you from there, causes the necessary stress and frightening moments.
Still a few points of criticism. Turns out that a single drop of blood from a wound is enough to attract such a gigantic shark. But when they suddenly try to attack out of the dark, they miss the helpless victim. I immediately conclude that such a shark must have a gigantic, well-developed olfactory organ. But besides that, such a shark is as blind as a mole. Furthermore, I found the computer animation of this predatory fish not quite successful. But I thought the same of the crumpled plastic shark in “The Shallows”. And the denouement is also something that you can discuss. And I doubt whether the event is scientifically correct.
But all in all, this was a pretty exciting underwater thriller, Cousteau would be happy to watch as well. And apparently there’s already a sequel in the making with the highest original title “48 Meters down“. So the problem will arise just a meter deeper. That’s what pushing boundaries means, I suppose! And for all of those who have plans for future distant journeys, a little advice. Stay safely by the swimming pool and do only excursions organized by the hotel. And get a proper travel insurance before you leave.
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