(Next thing you know, those sharks will get together and form a band called GREAT WHITE. Oh, wait there already is a band called that. My bad…)
CAST: Saffron Burrows, Thomas Jane, Samuel L. Jackson, L.L. Cool J, Stellan Skarsgaard, Jacqueline McKenzie, Aida Turturro, Michale Rappaport.
DIRECTOR: Renny Harlin
WARNING: Some SPOILERS and smarty-pants sharks and fine-lookin’ wetsuited folks - straight ahead….
With the runaway success of ALIEN in 1979, an entire new genre was created. I like to call it the “Body Count Creature Feature” genre.
There are several inviolate rules to this type of film, such as: (1) an isolated setting like deep space, an underground research facility, a ship, or any other place cut off from civilization, peopled by (2) a group of colorful characters, usually work colleagues, whose daily bickering is interrupted the arrival of (3) a voracious monster (or monsters) that begins to (4) knock them off one by one in gruesome ways, leading to (5) a battle for survival against the monster that leaves few - if any - of them standing at the end.
Dozens of “Body Count Creature Features” have been released over the years and decades after ALIEN’s huge impact. Some have been very good (ALIENS), some good (DEEP STAR SIX, THE THING, PREDATOR, THE DESCENT, ALIEN 3, SPLICE), some fair (HORROR PLANET, LEVIATHAN, THE CAVE, VIRUS, CREATURE, ALIEN RESURRECTION, PREDATOR 2, PREDATORS), most mediocre (DEEP RISING, FORBIDDEN WORLD, GALAXY OF TERROR, SCREAMERS, THE TERROR WITHIN), and many others have been plain awful (too many to list).
Our latest review belongs in the fair-to-good category, and has a more interesting backstory than most ALIEN clones. DEEP BLUE SEA was released in 1999, and revolves around a floating research facility off the coast of Baja, California. Manned by a team of engineers and medical specialists, the place is called Aquatica and was retro-fitted from being a submarine refueling center (sure) and into the high-tech facility it now is (of course). In case you’re wondering where the money is coming from for all of this, it’s the coffers of the Chimera Corporation. Chimera is also bankrolling the research going on in Aquatica.
What exactly are they researching? Are you sitting down? Well, it seems the leaders of the group, Dr. Susan McAlester (Saffron Burrows) and Dr. Jim Whitlock (Stellan Skargaard), believe that a cure for Alzheimer’s disease can be harvested from the brain proteins of sharks. Still standing? Didn’t think so.
Anyhow, that’s what is going at isolated Aquatica; essentially, it’s a holding pen for three special sharks that Susan and Jim hope will yield enough protein to generate a serum that will all but wipe out Alzheimer’s. See, Susan’s Dad was killed by the disease, and that's what motivates her to find the cure. The question is: did her motivation inspire her violate the Harvard Compact, an international law which states that genetic alteration is forbidden in medical research?
What do you think?
As our story begins, one of the sharks from Aquatica manages to get out and basically puts the cock-block on two couples making out on a catamaran. Unfortunately, before the teen chum can be gobbled up, our ostensible hero shows up to put a tranquilizer dart into the killer fishie. Leaving the stupid kids alive to breed and spread idiocy throughout the world.
Our hero is Carter Blake (Thomas Jane) and he is one hot fucker. Buff, blonde, tanned, and capable of filling out a wetsuit very nicely, Carter is the shark-wrangler at Aquatica. Which is like being in charge of the stables at a horse farm. Only these “horses” have much sharper teeth. And can swim very fast. And that is what concerns Carter: seems like his wards have been exhibiting strange behavior lately.
To wit, the sharks have been: (1) hunting in packs, (2) becoming more aggressive, (3) eating only other sharks for meals, and (3) jumping over the eight-foot titanium fences that surround the facility. In other words, they’re behaving like teenage punks testing their limits with Mommy and Daddy. Carter is concerned about this sudden change, and tries to tell Susan as much. But she’s too busy with other issues.
Unfortunately, the attack of the escaped shark on the two horny couples has brought the attention of the media. Which has caught the attention of the board at Chimera. Which has led to CEO Russell Franklin deciding to shut the whole operation down. Which leads to Susan making an all-or-nothing bet: her team will extract a sample of the brain protein from the sharks and prove its effectiveness as an Alzheimer’s cure within 48-hours. And Franklin is welcome to fly down with her to Aquatica and observe.
Needless to say, this is the corporate equivalent of having the General of the entire U.S. Air Force showing up at a remote dirtbag detachment in rural Korea. It goes without saying that the ass-pucker factor at Aquatica is at an all-time high.
Fortunately, the extraction process turns out to be a success: the brain protein actually works. Unfortunately, the shark they extracted the brain protein from isn’t happy about it - and chomps Jim’s arm off. This snowballs into an accident of catastrophic proportions that: (1) cuts off all contact with the mainland; (2) releases all three of the super-sharks; and (3) damages Aquatica to the extent that it begins to sink into the Pacific. Oh, and by the way, a gigantic storm is also about to hit the facility.
All in all, a bad weekend to be stuck on Aquatica. And in case you’re wondering why the sharks have suddenly developed the intelligence of a bunch of cranky high school students, yes, Susan and Jim did tinker with the sharks’ genes. Make that the worst weekend to be stuck on Aquatica.
So… the important questions… Will anyone survive the attacks of the Mensa sharks? Or will they all drown when Aquatica sink? Will Susan own up to what she did? Will Franklin and Carter be able to save the entire group? Or will the sharks outsmart them? What about the cure for Alzheimers? Will that bit get forgotten in the midst of all the shark attacks and awesome shots of Thomas Jane, Saffron Burrows, and Jacqueline McKenzie’s wet-suited bods?
I’ve already seen the movie, so I know all the answers to the above. Especially the one about the wet-suited bods. What other sport is sexier than scuba diving? What, I ask you?
BUT, SERIOUSLY: Put simply, DEEP BLUE SEA is respectable entry into the “Body Count Creature Feature” genre. A few things distinguish this film from the rest of the pack: (1) an unpredictable body count; (2) an interesting backstory for the mayhem; (3) an interesting threat in the “smart sharks”; and (4) some gripping and shocking sequences.
In most films from this genre, it’s very easy to predict who’s going to live or die. Generally, everyone is fair game for the monster with the exception for the leads. In DEEP BLUE SEA, though, characters that you were sure would survive, get it - and get it bad. One sequence in particular is so jaw-dropping and unexpected that you’ll be laughing and screaming at the same time. Indeed, this scene is what most people remember about this movie. Not going to spoil it for anyone who hasn’t seen the film - suffice it to say, you’ll like it.
Also, the backstory involving the harvesting of shark brain proteins for an Alzheimer’s cure is an interesting one. It also provides Susan with an interesting backstory. Not sure if there is any basis in fact for this theory, but at least it provides a relatable context in which the action and terror unfolds. I mean, we all want to see Alzheimer’s cured, right?
The sharks themselves are also interesting to watch. Some of their attack sequences are so obviously CGI, and that’s one of the reasons this film doesn’t rate any higher than above-average (***), but other scenes are thrillingly staged - such as the one I referred to above. The idea of sharks actually becoming intelligent is kind of a scary proposition.
The other reason that DEEP BLUE SEA falls just a little short of ***½ (good) is due to some rather silly dialogue and hammy acting. Thomas Jane is one good-looking guy - and thankfully spends most of his time in tank tops, shorts, and wetsuits - but sometimes he can be a little theatrical with his line delivery. Of course, he does get stuck with some rather corny ones. Even Robert De Niro would have probably had a hard time with those lines.
Saffron Burrows makes for an interesting heroine - driven, ambitious, myopic, but also compassionate and - ultimately - selfless. The DVD has a lot of deleted scenes that fleshed out not just her character, but everyone else’s. Unfortunately, director Renny Harlin opted to remove them to quicken the pace of the film. Bad move. Had he chosen to keep these illuminating scenes in (especially a lovely one at Susan’s surprise birthday party where she gives a touching speech), the characters would have been more compelling and not just shark-fodder. We would’ve cared about them more.
The rest of the cast is okay, but as I mentioned before, the removal of all the “character-building” scenes kind of neuters them a bit. Harlin’s decision to nix the material that shows the crew’s humanity is what ultimately keeps the film from rating higher. Fortunately, the action (with the exception of some cheesy CGI) is exciting and, at times, even beautiful. Such as the shot where we see an above-water explosion from the bottom of the lagoon.
DEEP BLUE SEA is definitely an above-average entry into the “Body Count Creature Feature” genre. The fact that it is about sharks, and takes place on and under water is another bonus to an avowed scuba diver and shark enthusiast like me. Shame about those deleted scenes, though.
