Deep Blue Sea Is Still One of the Greatest Shark Movies 25 Years On

Deep Blue Sea, an enormous dumb film about large sensible sharks, continues to be an entertaining motion horror 25 years after it first swam onto our screens.

Director Renny Harlin has had a wild profession in motion and in horror. There are highs (The Lengthy Kiss Goodnight, Cliffhanger) and lows (Cuthroat Island, Exorcist: The Starting). Deep Blue Sea didn’t precisely find yourself being lauded as a tacky horror-laced gem like its fellow 1999 blockbuster The Mummy, however within the realm of shark films? It’s nonetheless acquired enamel.

It sees researchers at an underwater facility looking for the treatment for Alzheimer’s illness by finding out the regenerative qualities of sharks’ brains. Sadly, it’s crunch time for the mission financially, and the top honcho, Russell Franklin (Samuel L. Jackson), is coming to see how shut they’re to a breakthrough.

It seems they’re very shut. Nevertheless, in typical film scientists’ pondering, the top researchers (performed by Stellan Skarsgard and Saffron Burrows) dope the check sharks to attain the outcome. Consequently, the Mako sharks will not be solely greater and quicker however smarter, too. So when a violent storm and a gnarly accident happen, the sensible sharks take the possibility to get out and chomp on any poor souls unfortunate sufficient to be in the way in which. Due to this fact, the alternatives for the crew are easy. Get to the floor, drown, or get eaten.

The Shark Film Drawback

Make no mistake. Very like exorcism films, Shark films have been chasing an unattainable excessive for a while. Style standouts that transcend stated style, equivalent to Jaws and The Exorcist, make it extraordinarily troublesome to observe. I’ve genuinely misplaced rely of what number of occasions I’ve had hopes for a shark film and been bitterly disenchanted. And it’s been nearly 50 years since Jaws and its mechanical shark set the benchmark. There have been loads of frankly terrible spins on the template in that point.

So, admittedly, the bar is fairly low for shark films to clear past Jaws. There’s extra to it than simply as a result of Jaws exists (the change in how sharks are perceived particularly). However misunderstanding what made the concept of colossal monsters of the deep lurking beneath your toes within the ocean so rattling terrifying is an enormous a part of it.

Whereas Deep Blue Sea is undoubtedly fairly goofy at occasions and clearly bored with abiding by precise shark habits (a few of which is admittedly defined away by their enhanced talents), it doesn’t neglect the golden rule. Feed on the concern of the deep and the issues in it.

The scenes underwater the place the human crew are on the mercy of the killer beasts have rigidity to them. Particularly these in open water the place Thomas Jane’s grizzled shark wrangler Carter Blake performs a recreation of rooster. On a private stage, there’s a second that crammed me with dread that wasn’t inherently scary itself. Carter swims by a mesh tunnel within the facility’s caged-off part of the ocean. When he arrives at its exit, the shot exhibits simply how insignificant that tunnel feels compared to the cavernous blue murk surrounding it. Deep Blue Sea could also be a largely daft chomper romp, however it has its moments to make thasalaphobia victims uncomfortable. Credit score needs to be given for the customarily excellent use of area.

Catastrophe within the Deep Blue Sea

It additionally mixes in somewhat little bit of the traditional catastrophe film format. After some shark shenanigans, the underwater facility begins to flood and crumble. The crew traverses all method of perilous conditions, making an attempt to get to the floor while the sharks acquire extra floor (effectively, water). It might not have been sufficient by itself to make a reliable catastrophe flick, however it provides one thing to the monster film format that guidelines the film’s construction. Additionally, it helps that the ability itself is a superb setting.

Maybe most significantly, Deep Blue Sea strikes together with the identical single-minded focus of a shark. It will get the guff out of the way in which shortly. From there, it’s a straight shoot of sharks vs. people vs. crumbling undersea facility for over an hour. Pure popcorn delight.

I don’t need to sound previous, however the form of movie Deep Blue Sea is more and more troublesome to seek out in modern-day cinema. Certain, there are many genuinely low-rent homages to the motion/horror hybrid. The sequels are underwhelming proof of that. On this scale, there’s merely nothing fairly prefer it. It might not have The Mummy‘s swagger, however it’s simply as gloriously entertaining in its personal means.