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Great white sharks aren't mindless eating machines but, according to scientists over the past few years, actually quite intelligent — presumably smarter than the folks behind the only occasionally scary shark-attack thriller "47 Meters Down."
Lisa (Mandy Moore, currently on "This Is Us") and Kate (Claire Holt, late of "The Vampire Diaries") are sisters vacationing in Mexico, enjoying drinking and dancing and meeting some fun-loving local guys. These guys, Louis (Yani Gellman) and Benjamin (Santiago Segura), suggest they go on an adventure to view sharks circling a few miles off the coast.
The guys hook Lisa and Kate up with a crusty captain, Taylor (Matthew Modine), whose boat has a rusty shark cage lowered into the water by a crane. The guys try it first, then the sisters, with the scuba-trained Kate reassuring the newbie diver Lisa that all will be fine.
If all was fine, though, we wouldn't have a movie. The cage goes into free fall, landing on the ocean floor at a depth of 47 meters, followed by the crane. Kate swims out of the cage to establish radio contact with Taylor, who reassures that help is on the way. He also tells her to get back into the shark cage before the beasts reappear.
Director Johannes Roberts — whose ego is big enough that he gets a possessive credit before the title: "Johannes Roberts' 47 Meters Down" — and co-writer Ernest Riera aren't exactly Shakespearean in their dialogue. The script uses the word "shark" in repetition, as if saying the word enough times will cause them to appear, like Beetlejuice or Candyman. There's also a drinking game, though a short one, to be had with the number of times Taylor warns the sisters about the dangers of "the bends" if they surface too fast. Gee, I wonder if that will factor into the story later?
There are some effective jump-scares, and Holt makes a formidable scream queen. One wonders why Moore would get involved with a movie so cheesy — though it's helpful to remember that this movie has been on the shelf since before "This Is Us" took off, and one can't live on "Tangled" residuals forever.
Roberts has one smart trick up his sleeve, and he saves it to the very end. Before that, a moviegoer may find "47 Meters Down" too shallow to be worth sticking to the final reel.
Twitter: @moviecricket —
HH
'47 Meters Down'
Sisters in a shark cage find themselves on the ocean floor in a thriller that's only scary in a few spots.
Where • Theaters everywhere.
When • Opens Friday, June 16.
Rating • PG-13 for sequences of intense peril, bloody images and brief strong language.
Running time • 89 minutes.