“We’re gonna need a bigger… rock”

Just when you thought all shark attack stories were the same, The Shallows brings a new perspective to the table with a simple objective and small cast.

Blake Lively plays Nancy a med student who travels to Mexico after her Mom is lost to cancer. She goes on a mission to a secluded beach where her Mother had gone while pregnant with Nancy. Finding peace with the cove and reminiscing through photos of her lost Mom, Nancy then surfs the whole day and on her last run meets her hungry nemesis.

This film will keep you entertained and Blake Lively puts on a great performance, as she is by herself for 90% of the movie. The Shallows plays on the popular fear of being stranded in the ocean with a shark, the most realistic of which would be Open Water. Other films have similar outlines with other dangers, Phone Booth is a sniper, Frozen (Not Disney) is on a ski lift with wolves below just to name a few. There are a few GOPRO sequences that really hit their mark as folks have documented encounters with Great White Sharks in real life (Just YouTube “Shark Attack GoPro” to freak yourself out).

The downfall of this movie is some of its unrealistic moments and there are more than we would like to see. What makes sharks so scary in movies is that they are rarely seen, the fin is enough to terrify most people. When the shark is shown about halfway through the movie, its shock is underwhelming as its depicted using less than desirable CGI. It’s not entirely the filmmakers fault as the studio cut their original budget and they lost their first director because of it.

All in all it is a fun movie to watch and will make you think twice before stepping into the ocean again. While it may not have the realism of Open Water, this film stands on its own when it had the potential to be a complete disaster.

ROASTED RIPPER SCORE

B- (7/10 Shark Bites)