Following last summer’s somewhat surprising success, _The Shallows_, comes this summer’s disappointing attempt to depict shark behavior. While shark movies since _Jaws_ have been inaccurate from a scientific perspective, you can give _Jaws_ some leeway because it was made at a time when we didn't know much about great white sharks. It remains a well-crafted film released during an era of limited understanding of these creatures. Now, decades after countless documentaries and Shark Week broadcasts, the cinematic shark is still portrayed as a mindless villain whose sole purpose is to advance the plot by eating whoever happens to be available. I had hoped _47 Meters Down_ would compensate for its lack of accuracy with a compelling story, suspense, and well-developed characters. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. The script felt like an unfinished draft, riddled with plot holes and lacking any real character development. It was a movie that told rather than showed; the characters explained themselves to the audience through dialogue instead of demonstrating their personalities through actions. The film begins with an unnecessary and symbolic shot of spilled liquid intended to resemble blood in the water—a clear signal that this is, indeed, a shark movie. We then focus on two American sisters vacationing in Mexico. Later, when the plot requires it, the younger sister, Kate, is suddenly presented as athletic, heroic, and courageous. This isn’t established through any meaningful character development; instead, her older sister, Lisa, laments about being shy and boring while describing Kate's adventurous and outgoing nature. Instead, the first 20 minutes of the film portray Kate as a party girl—kissing strangers, drinking tequila, dancing on the beach. We learn she’s somewhat remarkable, but only because Lisa essentially tells us so. The 20 minutes dedicated to introducing the sisters feels more like a music video: quick cuts of drinking and dancing. Lisa's characterization, though clumsily presented through awkward dialogue ("Hey, sis"—a blatant reminder that they are sisters—I’m here because of my boyfriend situation, which is my motivation for the next 90 minutes), is at least attempted. However, her actions, including a kiss with another man, seem designed to impress someone back home who has already left her, reinforcing the idea that a woman's self-worth is tied to a male figure—a notion that elicits an eye roll. The movie then transitions into something resembling a film. The sisters go shark diving, encountering a captain who alternates between paternal concern and gross negligence, and a crew member who acts like a complete jerk for reasons never explained. After establishing that Lisa has never dived before, and the captain is surprisingly okay with this—akin to letting someone inexperienced drive a semi-truck on the highway—and revealing that the shark cage and winch system are faulty, everything that will go wrong is essentially foreshadowed. The sisters then enter the water, see some sharks, and plummet 47 meters down. The film becomes both engaging and frustrating at this point. Sharks appear in the darkness, providing jump scares to jolt the audience. It transforms into a monster movie—a haunted house scenario with our protagonists trapped in a metaphorical basement. The scenes of sheer terror are effective, and there’s even a hint of psychological horror as Lisa becomes disoriented in the dark and struggles to find her way to safety. However, the suspense quickly diminishes. Instead of relying on atmospheric tension, the filmmakers opted for continuous mishaps. Something always goes wrong. Refilling an air tank takes an unreasonable amount of time. I wasn’t thinking, "How will they escape this situation?" but rather, “How much longer will this scene be drawn out?” The frustration outweighed any suspense. The ending could have—should have—saved the entire movie. It's difficult to discuss specifics without revealing major spoilers related to a M. Night Shyamalan-esque twist, so you might want to stop reading here. What worked about the ending was its unexpected nature; I found it clever. What didn’t work is that viewers unfamiliar with deep-sea diving may find it confusing and jarring—potentially ruining its impact. Those in the know will understand what's happening, but others might be left bewildered. The film simply failed to provide enough background information for audiences to grasp the ending without prior knowledge of concepts like “the rapture-of-the-deep.” The ending’s downfall was the tacked-on resolution that wraps everything up in a predictable Hollywood fashion. If the movie had ended two minutes sooner, with a shot of a girl trapped in a shark cage slowly receding into view, the film's flaws might have been more easily overlooked. One drawback is similar to what plagued _The Blair Witch Project_: The ending *is* the whole experience. But the preceding 80 minutes aren’t strong enough to warrant repeated viewing. I probably won’t watch this movie again. Despite that, it wasn't a complete disaster; I wouldn’t say the $11 I spent was wasted or that I regret the time invested. It achieved its basic goals in a superficial way, and that’s sufficient. Despite its shortcomings, Mandy Moore delivered a consistent performance as Lisa, seemingly the only actor who relied on action, dialogue, demeanor, and tone to portray her character accurately. Also, the film avoided the gratuitous displays of nudity that characterized similar films like last year's _The Shallows_ (did Blake Lively’s rear end ever leave the screen?), 2005's _Into the Blue_ (which seemed more concerned with Paul Walker's abs and Jessica Alba's curves than the plot), and 1977's _The Deep_, best remembered for two hours of Jacqueline Bissett in a wet t-shirt.

Source on TMDB