“Thrash” and “No Way Up,” eat your hearts out.
Important distinction: try not to get this “Deep Water” confused with the Ben Affleck movie of the same name.
“Deep Water” is another shark movie out this season, but a better one than Netflix’s “Thrash.” It tells the story of an airplane traveling from Los Angeles to Shanghai, which is forced to crash land in the Pacific Ocean after a suitcase with a battery pack catches fire. It’s a good thing I always carry my portable charger in my backpack as my carryon luggage. The pilots are played by Aaron Eckhart and Ben Kingsley, and the surviving passengers include a nerd (Richard Crouchley from “Evil Dead Rise”), a wisecracking grandmother (Kate Fitzpatrick), two step-siblings (Molly Belle Wright currently seen in “Omaha” and Elijah Tamati), a smoking jerk (Angus Sampson), and two Asian athletes (Zhao Simei and Li Wenham). Parts of the plane are stuck on coral reefs, and there are plenty of lifeboats to buy the survivors some time, but some CGI looking sharks invade their area.
This happens to be the first shark movie Renny Harlin has directed since “Deep Blue Sea,” and it’s been a decade since Eckhart has played a pilot dealing with a plane that crashes in the water in “Sully.” “Deep Water” doesn’t have the shark effects of that shark movie, but it does have some of the emotional weight of the plane movie. He’s a father who has been traumatized and wants to get home to his family, while the little girl he encounters (Wright) wants to be a better stepsister than she was before. You know how these blended family formulas work, but you didn’t know they could be handled in the Pacific Ocean, too.
The jerk I’m mentioning has to be told he can’t smoke in a certain part of the pick-up zone, when he’s told by a flight attendant they’re out of ear plugs, he makes his own of of cigarettes. He’s also the character beyond redemption, acting like a Karen from the get go, and he says he has kids, but I don’t believe it for a second. And I bet you $5 he gets eaten.
It’s funny, because a few years ago, I panned another shark movie that took place on a plane that crash lands and sinks in the Pacific Ocean called “No Way Up.” Or as I would like to call it “Sharks on a Plane.” “Deep Water” ends up being the better version based on how it uses the characters with some development and consistency, and for the way it uses the thrills of avoiding sharks at every turn. Even with CGI sharks, the threats are exciting.
There are many “Jaws” screenings every year, and I think some let people watch it while sitting in tubes in the water. I guess that enhances the viewing pleasure and thrills. But if that’s too much for you, watching it at the beach would be safer.
It’s obligatory that I would use “Jaws” in all my shark movie reviews, because nothing will ever top that gem. But “Deep Water” sure tops “Thrash” and “No Way Up.” And I’m surprised considering that Harlin also made “The Strangers” trilogy, and only the first of the bunch I saw. The rest I skipped. I think this is the one I made the right choice of seeing. It has characters and thrills more real than the sharks, and it delivers as campy entertainment.
