As I have gotten older I have developed a rule when it comes to the ocean, don’t’ go in it. If it isn’t the tide or some bacteria it’s a shark that wants to make you its next snack. I know I have made this seem a lot worse then it really is, but that’s how I talk myself out of going into the water. Of course the other thing that reminds me of the danger that lurks in the oceans are movies like “47 Meters Down”.
Since most of us might not be up on our meters to foot conversion, 47 meters is about 154 feet (Alexa told me). The movie doesn’t point that out so I am throwing it out there. Lisa (Mandy Moore) and her sister Kate (Claire Holt) are living the life down in Mexico. While it may look like all fun and games Kate wasn’t the original plus one, which would be Lisa’s now ex-boyfriend. It seems like he thought Lisa was a square and judging on the trip so far, it seems he would be right. Leave it to Kate to give the “You are not boring” speech to get Lisa to go out. Being attractive women, they meet two guys who tell them about an adventure involving a cage and sharks. Lisa is hesitant, after all the hotel told them to do only their sponsored tours, but being the great sister Kate is, she talks Lisa into it. Once out in the water they go into cage, cage goes into the water, shark’s in the water, lots of sharks. Of course things go wrong, the wench breaks, dropping the cage into the depths of the ocean. The game then becomes all about survival, where sharks and the clock are against them.
I for one am never against a movie that has sharks in it. Ever since “Jaws” I have been in awe of these creatures but also respect them enough to stay away from the water. The characters in this film do not have that fear, but then again if they did, we have no movie to talk about. Written by Ernest Riera and Johannes Roberts, the later also directing, the story is a little thin. With the first half feeling like people making bad decisions, then followed up with regret, but with sharks. The dialogue for most of the second half of the movie feels like the name Kate or Lisa said even more than my description 27 lines above. With all that said this film is kind of entertaining. Sure it has it’s terrible moments, but I think it knows that and accepts it. I mean I had no emotional connection to the characters that kind of makes me care less if they live or die, but I was still invested in the film. The thing that helps a lot is the run time of 89 minutes; everything is better at that run time. I enjoyed enough of this movie and while that might not be the ringing endorsement when you’ve accepted the fact no one can make “Jaws” again, you can at least settle for what you get out of “Jaws 3-D”.
