Friday, July 07, 2017

'47 Meters Down' Doesn't Have Much Depth

47 Meters Down tells the story of two sisters (Mandy Moore and Claire Holt) on vacation in Mexico who decide to go cage diving in shark-infested waters.  But their thrill-seeking venture suddenly turns into absolute horror when their cage breaks off the boat, sending them plummeting down to the seafloor, 47 meters down (hence, the title).  As their oxygen supply dwindles and great white sharks circle them, the sisters must figure out how to get to the surface alive.

I went to watch this movie because I’m a bit of a Mandy Moore fan (I like her as a singer, and I liked A Walk to Remember and Tangled).  Also, I was kind of hoping, unlikely it may be, it would turn out being another The Shallows (which surprisingly ended up being one of my favorite films of 2016).
However, when it was established in the second scene that their motivation for going on an adrenaline-pumping activity like cage diving was going to be rooted on the fact that the boyfriend of Mandy Moore’s character broke up with her for being boring, it became clear to me that his movie won’t have much depth.  Also, the cinematography is nowhere as gorgeous as The Shallows’.   

It’s not necessarily terrible.  It’s perfectly watchable.  The premise is intriguing for a “shark attack” film, and the narrative delivers some okay thrills and tension.  It also has a plot twist in the third act that’s somewhat nicely done.

47 Meters Down is fine.  Eventually forgettable, but fine.

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