"As a side-effect, the sharks got smarter..."      

DEEP BLUE SEA (R)

Reviewed July 31, 1999 - Check out the Deep Blue Sea Website.

Deep Blue Sea is one of those action/adventure/sci-fi rollercoaster rides that's designed to do one thing: get your adrenaline pumping.  On a secret laboratory called Aquatica located somewhere out in the middle of the ocean, a small group of scientists led by Dr. Susan McAlester (Saffron Burrows) and Jim Whitlock (Stellan Skarsgard) have been genetically engineering mako sharks with bigger brains.  Their motives are well-intentioned, with the scientists hoping to extract a protein from the sharks' brains which could cure Alzheimer's disease.  It's a noble cause, and after one particularly successful brain-cell regeneration experiment, it looks like the scientists have triumphed.  Man playing with nature...dangerous recipe, eh?

Yeah, well, you guessed it.  It's not long before the sharks (smarter due to their bigger brains) get ideas of their own, and begin to wreak havoc on the ocean facility and its inhabitants.  Let the chomping begin!  In what feels like a Jaws meets Jurassic Park meets The Abyss meets Aliens kind of monster-fest, Deep Blue Sea quickly turns into a slick, fast-paced, high-energy special-effects rollercoaster ride with all the usual crunch-and-munch trappings.  All the people on Aquatica, including owner Russell Franklin (Samuel L. Jackson), marine biologist (Jacqueline McKenzie), and chef Dudley (LL Cool J) become potential lunchmeat for the smart sharks, leaving the audience with two main questions on their mind: 1). who gets eaten next, and 2). how do they get eaten?

Okay, so it's a formula film, and it's a formula that's been done a hundred times before.  Those searching for something profound, thought-provoking or intellectually challenging should definitely look somewhere else.  For all of its utterly shallow brainlessness, however, the Renny Harlin directed Deep Blue Sea does manage to get something right: it remembers to stay fun. 

Fun.  Campy.  Tongue-in-cheek.  It's the kind of atmosphere that, when done right, makes certain other deficiencies (e.g., stupid plot, bad dialog, paper-thin characters) forgivable, and this is the kind of atmosphere you'll find in Deep Blue Sea.  Don't try to overthink this film, because it won't make any sense.  Instead, enjoy it for the well-executed (if cheap) thrills, the originality in some of the kills, and the menacing ferocity of those angry sharks.  Deep Blue Sea isn't a great film, but it's got enough laughs, surprises and scares to keep it from drowning under its own weight.

Responses from cyberspace--thanks for writing!

jdeo@tasmail.com gives this movie  stars: "I said that this movie was grreat, and it was! I love scary movies. I entered a competition about winning "The Deep Blue Sea" packs. You know my name (Janette Deo) and you know that I gave this movie 5 stars. Can you make me win the contest?" (10/16/00)

andyhardcore007@aol.com gives this movie  stars: "This movie is the greates shark movie so far, I think. Jaws was a classic but didn't have enough scenes with the shark and didn't seem scary enough. Deep Blue Sea is like pushing Jaws to the limits plus adding lots of other things to make it one of the best movies ever! Although they had one massive mistake (which was the fact that Mako sharks aren't really the colour they were in the film in the real life) I still think this film is excellant. Jaws has had its time, now for a new generation. A geneneration where sharks can chase people in corridors and have lightning speed. I really think this film is excellant but I'm trying my best not to become and addict of it but the DVD case that conceals it is sooo tempting!" (3/2/00)

jaws@magbox.com gives this movie  stars: "Deep Blue Sea, at first seemed like it would be a crok from jaws. but after i saw it, i was glued to my chair, i was so scared. i wanted to be scared agian, and again. i wanted to stay scared, and with that movie on DVD, that woun't be a problem." (2/28/00)

Jessfrogy@prodigy.net gives this movie  stars: "I thought this movie was preety good. Not much plot but it really didnt neeed it it was like an upscale anaconda and the graphics were a lot better, and it was great when they got sameul l jackson" (2/15/00)

chazard@webtv.net gives this movie  stars: "I love deep blue sea and i love carter i would love to meet him. i wish he would email me love demi dittmer" (1/27/00)

hicks@racinggrid.com gives this movie  stars: "I gave this movie 5 stars because I sit down and watch movies like they are something knew. Critics don't do this, and it is this reason that I believe movies are bad or good. Movies won't to good becuase ignorant critics and reviewers make the movie sound so pointless and dumb that the rumors start to rise and it ends up that no one watches the movie. Thanks alot critic people, I would love to see what kind of movie you guys would come up with [probably as bad as "Tammy and the T-Rex"]. The movie is very good, there is a story, just some people are complete idiots they don't clue in what it is, or just sit down to criticize it *cough*critics*cough* and don't take it what the movie was slightest about. The acting was acceptable, not excellent, but what would you define as excellent? Arnold Schwarzenegger? Meg Ryan? its just peoples personal opinion whether or not they like the acting. The special effects were amazing and I think that critics could at least acknowledge that, its better than your pixel art in windows paint. Anyways, I agree with every positive comment on this film already listed. I would say its better than Jaws, and does not imitate it in anyway [if that was the fact, then every movie imitates every movie ever made eg: Jan Claude repeats every movie he has ever made because they are all fighting movies or Speilberg has copied every other movie made based on WWII from S.P.R], at least in this movie we see how Sharks kill and rip apart there pray, Jaws it was just suspensful music and no showing of people getting eaten at all, whats that? how could you call that scary? ooooooo here comes the shark, and now someone is dragged underwater and there is red paint everywhere, ooo scary. Anyways, I'm just glad that the movie did as good as it did, and I'm also happy that Jackson got eaten in the film to because you rarely see actors like that get killed in movies [Thats also why Executive Discision was good = Steven Segal gets killed 15min into movie :)]" (1/10/00)

Rhino7jr gives this movie  stars: "The action, suspense, and the popularity of most of the actors was what made this movie great!!!!! Not to mention the great special effects." (12/14/99)

asmaller@aol.com gives this movie  stars: "This was one of the best movies I've ever seen in my whole life. I thought the story was awsome!!! My favorite character was deffinatly Carter. Thanx for making this movie. I hope you will make more shark movies or even a sequal to this one." (12/14/99)

punkinhead73@hotmail.com gives this movie  stars: "good effects with the sharks... some chezzy and unrealistic.... but given the effort, i'd say it definately is the best "Shark" movie yet..." (12/10/99)

marie.soderlund@conera.se gives this movie  stars: "Since a heard that it would come a movie called Deep Blue Sea I´d get so exited so I nearly couldn´t sleep! And it was just...no, it was better than I first thought! If I had lots of money I´ve seen it in the cinema ove and over again!" (11/22/99)

luketim@htonline.com gives this movie  stars: "Deep Blue Sea is an easy 5 stars! This movie will scare the (@#$$) out of you and not to menchin the cast is great! This movie is my favorite movie of all times! I think that the acting was great and it was an all out action thriller! It is easily the best movie of the year! I recomend this to everyone and to the concerned parents out their it truly is acceptable to children! Their is no nudity or rape! There is occasioal swearing and gore but for the most part it isnt that bad at all! I loved it and I hope that you will love it to! Well If you have any comments e-mail me! -Luke" (11/8/99)

far3000@yahoo.com gives this movie  stars: " this was a really funny film even if that was not the intantion. the scene in which samuel l jackson dies cracked me and my mates up. dont take the film seriously - just take the piss out of it" (10/20/99)

gillianlover@hotmail.com gives this movie  stars: "In much similar setup as the terrible flick "Deep Rising", "Deep Blue Sea" struggles with a bad script, bad acting and the fact that the climax begins 10 minutes into the film. The special effects are only mediocre and there are no real scares at all -- I literally laughed my way through the whole movie. Attempts at humour failed miserably, and one final scene, where a female character dies, will leave you thinking "What was the point of that?"" (9/28/99)

ronin_1981@hotmail.com gives this movie  stars: "Deep Blue Sea is one of the could have been one of the best thrillers this year, but despite a few flaws it is still excellent. It is smart, fun, exciting, and sometimes very thrilling. Another point about this movie is that it is the first time I have seen characters that are smart and we actually feel for them. What makes Deep Blue Sea so better than most of the movies where animals become predators of humans, is that we actually care about the characters that are being hunted. Each character is smart and puts on a reasonably good performance for this type of movie. This is a rare occurrence for thrillers involving animal predators. And because of these good performances we actually get some seriously dramatic scenes, and a dramatic/exciting climax. I was fairly impressed with Deep Blue Sea. Besides the good characters and performances the movie is mostly wall to wall action. But the action is quite exciting and at some points intensely thrilling. The action sequences don't just rely on the special effects but also on just good stunts that are not absolutely unbelievable. It is put together well. Although the plot has been used over and over before, animals are caged, they escape and run a muck all over the place(ex. Jurassic Park, Alien Resurrection, etc.). But they use that formula well here. Instead of following the regular cliches they use their own ideas. But besides all the pros about this movie, it has a few cons. The very first scene in the movie is a total rip-off of jaws. It was bound to happen in a shark movie, but it is so obvious I couldn't pass it up. The other flaw is that sometimes the sharks look a little like a cartoon! Most of the time they are done very well but some times you burst out laughing because they look a little odd. Deep Blue Sea is a movie that is a good addition to it's genre because it takes itself seriously and decides to add characters that are smart and that we care for. Plus they avoid all the possible cliches, making this an original film. I can tell you that Deep Blue Sea surprised me and I hope it is a hit." (8/6/99)