The Reef: Stalked (C- or 1.5/4 stars)
In an effort to heal after witnessing the aftermath of her sister's horrific murder, Nic (Teressa Laine) travels to a tropical resort with her other sister & 2 friends for a kayaking/diving adventure off Queensland, Australia's coast in 'The Reef: Stalked' (written & directed by Andrew Traucki). Mere hours into their expedition, the 4 women - Nic, her sister Annie (Saskia Archer), Jodie (Ann Truong) & Lisa (Kate Lister) - are 'stalked' & then repeatedly attacked by a great white shark {think of the hell bent shark from 1987's woebegone Jaws: The Revenge, haha}. To survive they will need to band together and, Nic will have to overcome her intense post-traumatic stress to face her personal demons & slay 'The Man in the Gray Suit'.
This film is a sequel, of sorts, to 2010's The Reef, but the stories are not connected. THAT film apparently had a big downer of an ending. I will not reveal the extent to which this film might have a similar outcome. We learn in an extended prologue that Nic's sister, Cath (Bridget Burt), was the victim of domestic homicide. After getting a text from Cath to 'please come' to the house, Nic gets to her sister too late; Cath's husband sits still in their kitchen until turning to Nic to say "she made me do it". It's a very effectively upsetting start to the film. But the blending of stalking shark + PTSD from Cath's 'shark-like' husband {who killed Cath IN water} is an unsuccessful concept, to me. It just doesn't work allegorically or cinematically, here.
Parts of this film are fairly successful. The prologue showed promise. And fleeting portions of the 2nd 1/2 of the film contain uneasy jump scare after jump scare. But there are so many problems, for me. Firstly, the execution of the filmmaking of this film is like one notch above the likes of Sharknado; with poor cinematography {how do you make coastal Australia look bad!?}, piss-poor editing {continuity of shots are all off}, & the visual effects {wonky as hell}, augmented with footage of a real shark beneath the water is laughable. And the John Williams-like duh-duh Jaws music also made me shake my head at the absurdity of its use.
I also was not convinced by the acting. Perhaps the actresses have been better elsewhere, but aside from some nice chemistry btwn. them due to being placed together in these kayaks ... their individual work didn't impressive me. Bizarre line readings; bizarre reaction shots. When called to be brave, they 'act' brave. When called upon to point at a dorsal fin & screech 'shark!', they do. But it's all fairly cringe-worthy. For my money, The Shallows is one of the best shark films short of Jaws & Jaws 2. THIS film falls far short. There is inherent interest in watching people be close, but not close enough to the shore to get to safety, etc. But the particulars of this movie are what sinks it. Still, it kept me watching 'til the end. There is some merit to that.
This film is a sequel, of sorts, to 2010's The Reef, but the stories are not connected. THAT film apparently had a big downer of an ending. I will not reveal the extent to which this film might have a similar outcome. We learn in an extended prologue that Nic's sister, Cath (Bridget Burt), was the victim of domestic homicide. After getting a text from Cath to 'please come' to the house, Nic gets to her sister too late; Cath's husband sits still in their kitchen until turning to Nic to say "she made me do it". It's a very effectively upsetting start to the film. But the blending of stalking shark + PTSD from Cath's 'shark-like' husband {who killed Cath IN water} is an unsuccessful concept, to me. It just doesn't work allegorically or cinematically, here.
Parts of this film are fairly successful. The prologue showed promise. And fleeting portions of the 2nd 1/2 of the film contain uneasy jump scare after jump scare. But there are so many problems, for me. Firstly, the execution of the filmmaking of this film is like one notch above the likes of Sharknado; with poor cinematography {how do you make coastal Australia look bad!?}, piss-poor editing {continuity of shots are all off}, & the visual effects {wonky as hell}, augmented with footage of a real shark beneath the water is laughable. And the John Williams-like duh-duh Jaws music also made me shake my head at the absurdity of its use.
I also was not convinced by the acting. Perhaps the actresses have been better elsewhere, but aside from some nice chemistry btwn. them due to being placed together in these kayaks ... their individual work didn't impressive me. Bizarre line readings; bizarre reaction shots. When called to be brave, they 'act' brave. When called upon to point at a dorsal fin & screech 'shark!', they do. But it's all fairly cringe-worthy. For my money, The Shallows is one of the best shark films short of Jaws & Jaws 2. THIS film falls far short. There is inherent interest in watching people be close, but not close enough to the shore to get to safety, etc. But the particulars of this movie are what sinks it. Still, it kept me watching 'til the end. There is some merit to that.