It’s not corny, even though it easily could have been. This was surprisingly fun, emotional, and thrilling.” The movie is short, but there isn’t a wasted moment in its 85 minutes. “For much of ‘The Shallows’ running time, it’s effective, entertaining, and scary. See Video: Watch Blake Lively Battle a Great White Shark in 'The Shallows' Trailer “If you’re looking for a quick and satisfying summer thrill - a reminder that all you really need to make a movie is a girl and a flare gun - then the aptly titled ‘The Shallows’ should serve you nicely.” The film has the sort of breathtaking cinematography that will inspire you to visit the ocean. And a story that may stop you from ever going into the water again.” “‘The Shallows’ is brisk and engaging, and a great vehicle for Lively. Most of Lively’s scenes are monologues, and while she’s not about to make you forget about a young Meryl Streep, she’s solid and convincing in the role.” Even when she’s suffering from dehydration, gaping wounds, early onset gangrene, hunger and thirst, she still looks better than most humans do after a 10-day vacation. “Filmed in New South Wales, Australia, ‘The Shallows’ is a great-looking film, peppered with overhead long shots of the amazingly clear water, and some terrific underwater photography as well. Lively is a real gamer in a physical role that calls for her to swim, surf, endure shark bites and jellyfish stings, and we’re just getting started. But Collet-Serra and Lively show no mercy in hooking us with the B-movie tension. (I’m figuring the shark is a symbolic warning not to quit school.) It’s all patently ridiculous. As Nancy waits for a rescue, she pours out her feelings to a wounded seagull who seems to represent her dead mom. Given her medical training, our heroine can turn a wet suit into a tourniquet or use her necklace to stitch up a nasty gash. “The movie shows Nancy and the shark dueling for dominance.
Played out with precision and skill, it delivers everything it suggests it will and then some. “‘ The Shallows‘ does for surfing what ‘The Blair Witch Project’ did for camping and makes ‘Jaws’ look like a children’s tea party. It’s just as much about our own fears and what we bring to it as what’s up on screen.”Īlso Read: 'Independence Day: Resurgence' Invades Thursday Box Office With $4 Million But for what it is, ‘The Shallows’ works. “Collet-Serra, director of Liam Neeson movies (he’s made ‘Non-Stop,’ ‘Run All Night’ and ‘Unknown’ with Neeson), brings steady, visceral chills, sparingly showing the shark early on and letting its presence be its own menace. Lively is perhaps a bit too calm and together, especially considering she’s nursing a gaping wound and has only an apple in her stomach. It’s about as deep as the titular lagoon on which it’s set, but the breakers promise a short and heart-pounding ride, with no wipeout.” Although the surfing sequences are merely adequate, the beach setting is beautifully shot, even in the scariest scenes. Is ‘The Shallows’ a thriller for the ages? No, but it’s decent popcorn fare. Collet-Serra has a good eye for scenery, too. That’s as refreshing as a dip in the ocean. The camera may linger at times a bit too long on Nancy’s bikini bottom or on the décolletage of her neoprene wet suit jacket, but she’s no helpless damsel in distress. “All that said, it’s still nice - really nice - to see a film about a woman in jeopardy who turns out to be resourceful and brave. The film had a strong start at the Thursday previews, grossing $1.33 million, on track to earn $7 million to $8 million this weekend. Once Nancy enters the water to surf, she becomes the target of a vicious shark. “The Shallows” follows med school dropout Nancy, who returns to a beach her late mother visited while pregnant with her. “While ‘Jaws’ transcended its genre trappings to become art, ‘The Shallows’ is a rousing, effective B-movie, and that’s an art in and of itself,” wrote TheWrap’s film critic Alonso Duralde.Īlso Read: 'The Shallows' Review: Blake Lively Vs Shark Is a Fairer Fight Than You'd Imagine Star Blake Lively is praised as “solid and convincing in the role,” and the thriller has a cumulative 74 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. “The Shallows” is being praised by critics as being “the best shark movie since ‘Jaws'” - the 1975 horror classic that spawned the genre.
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