Deep Blue Sea

What Deep Blue Sea actually is and what it is supposed to be are quite different. It was written by Renny Harlin (The man who gave us Cliffhanger and Die hard 2) as a serious horror film about the dangers of playing with nature. Due to a poor script it comes across as an action comedy with a few good shocks and is a very enjoyable film as such.

It is set in Aquatica, an undersea science lab where medical researcher Susan McAlester (Saffron Burrows) is carrying out research on shark brains to try and find a miracle cure for Alzheimers disease. In her quest she has increases the brain capacity of the sharks. So when a freak storm wipes out Aquatica and floods the corridors, trapping the staff in with the sharks, the fun really begins. "These sharks aren't just breaking down doors for the fun of it" Franklin realises "they're after us."

Carter Blake (Thomas Jane) - daredevil, diver and shark-sitter leads the group of survivors through a series of obstacles as vital corridors get flooded and the group get targeted by sharks wanting revenge. Among those struggling to survive are financier Russell Franklin (Sam Jackson), Janice (Jacqueline McKenzie) and gospel sprouting cook, Preach (L L Cool J) with his profanity spouting parrot.

The attacks are generally surprising and exciting although the actors are not required to do much more than scream and scramble out of the way or die in a dramatic and gory fashion, with one of the funniest scenes in the film being where a shark somehow knows how to turn an oven on.

Deep Blue Sea is good action film and an enjoyable night out, and the ending has to be seen to be believed.

Jo Henshaw