DEEP, BLUE SEA: Jurassic Shark!

JAWS wanna-be is rather like a shark - lots of bite and little brains

By Steve Biodrowski     January 26, 2000

This genetically-enhanced-super-smart-killer-sharks-on-the-loose movie has neat premise and some effective shock scenes, but ultimately it founders in a sea of uncertainty over whether to be a slick studio thriller or a crude exploitation film. This Spielberg-inspired film obviously wants to recycle JAWS by way of JURASSIC PARK, but its heart is much closer to Roger Corman rip-offs like PIRAHNA and CARNOSAUR.

The setting is perfect, an isolated research lab, much of it underwater, and the idea of taking nature's perfect predator and imbuing it with 'will and desire,' as one character says, is pretty frightening. The screenplay skips over any science fiction exploration of the premise, in favor of churning out a fast-paced horror film. Which is okay, but if you're going to short-change the story and brush over the characterizations, then you better have a really cool cast that can carry audience interest on their charismatic shoulders. DEEP BLUE SEA comes up short in this regard, with mostly anonymous actors who bring little live to their two-dimensional roles. There are a couple decent performances from Stellan Skarsgaard, Samuel L. Jackson, and LL Cool J, but (not to give too much away) two out of three of them are devoured way too early.

Credit this to a writer's gambit that doesn't quite pay off. The screenplay intentionally pulls a few surprises, setting up a certain character as the audience identification figure and then killing him off just when we think he's about to take charge and get everybody safely out of their dire situation. The approach works on a scene by scene level, but also undermines some of the overall effectiveness, robbing us characters we like and leaving us with others we would prefer to see eaten.

Director Renny Harlin (who began his career directing low-budget horror films like PRISON and the fourth NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET) pushes things along at an effectively impersonal clip. The overriding emphasis is on mechanical thrills and surprise shock attacks. (You're guaranteed to jump out of your seat at least twice.) But he doesn't really trust the power of a good image: On at least three occasions, he undercuts great scenes with body-chomping overkill. He doesn't seem to appreciate that the shots of the sharks lurching up to grab helpless victims is enough to send shivers down our spines; we don't need follow-up shots of the leviathans chomping on human bodies and rending them in pieces.

The problem is aggravated by the special effects. Although much of what we see is convincing (especially the live-action mechanical work), the excess of computer-generated imagery creates an unreal look for all swiftly swimming sharks. The effect almost makes it feel as if we're cutting to some form of Cartoon Theatre, which has little connection to the live-action part of the movie. And perhaps that's the whole point. The film doesn't actually want you to believe all those bisected human bodies on view are real; that would be too horrible to contemplate. Instead, it wants you to gag in disgust for just a moment and then gasp, 'Ooh, cool!' as if watching a violent videogame with really super graphics. It's a passable technique for a summer popcorn movie, but a little restraint might have actually increased, rather than lessened, the fear factor.