Lazy Film Critic Movie Reviews
The Shallows
I've been on a bit of a hiatus recently, it's the unfortunate result of July being usually something of a slower month combined with the fact that I finally bought and played through Life is Strange and it's left me in a weird state for the past few weeks. However, I'm back to reviewing movies, and the first Summer blockbuster I've got is The Shallows, a pretty basic Shark thriller starring Blake Lively that actually turned out to be one of the most pleasant surprises of 2016.
Now, originally I wasn't going to see The Shallows. I've never been the biggest fan of the director, and from the trailers it just kind of looked like a generic Shark movie. However, I have to say I'm very glad I changed my mind. Not only is The Shallows much more than another dumb Shark movie, it's easily the best Shark movie since Deep Blue Sea (which I will defend as a good guilty pleasure movie to my dying breath). This movie manages to maintain a lot of suspense throughout it's relatively short runtime, and when this movie gets intense, it's downright nail-biting.
What's most impressive about The Shallows is Blake Lively's performance in the lead. This is another one of those total isolation films like Castaway, or Moon, in which the bulk of the film is being carried by one actor. In a film like this, it's all on the lead actor to carry the entire movie, they have to be the emotionally engaging, likable, and believable. Fortunately, Lively managed to do all of these things, and it's easily her best performance to date.
One thing I always like in a movie, despite how rare it is in action films and thrillers, is for a movie to know what it is and not try to be anything else. At face value, this isn't that unique of a trait, but in the context of the current state of the film industry, it's a goddamn miracle. In this day and age where even a Batman vs Superman movie or a World of Warcraft movie can become a jaded, dull, overtly grim and boring affair, it's refreshing to see that a film with a simple premise can be executed in a way that manages to let its audience have fun while still very much taking itself seriously. And for that alone, The Shallows is more than worth the price of entry.
Final Rating
Sure, there's always gonna be some buzzkill who feels the need to tell everyone "sharks don't behave this way", but if you don't have a huge stick up your ass you'll definitely find something of value with this movie. It's fun, exciting, intense, and it delivers exactly what it should deliver. This is another one of my favorites this year, and I'm very glad I changed my mind about going to see it.
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