Review of 47 Meters Down: Uncaged (2019) by Thequietgamer — 24 Nov 2019

Much more of a B-movie than I was expecting. If it were any more ridiculous it would have released as a Syfy original. There's even the straight-to-DVD quality CGI sharks and everything. Luckily, Johannes Roberts is great at delivering thrills. Otherwise this would have been straight trash. There are some genuinely tense moments and the kills are satisfyingly brutal. Plus the premise and setting are awesome.

The submerged Mayan ruins are gorgeous and a cool location for the action to take place. They make for a more expansive hunting ground than what we got in the first film, but still manage to come off just as tight and claustrophobic. Of course, sharks are once again not the only danger the characters face. Their ever-draining oxygen supply and inability to reach surface level are just as big of threats, adding a little more suspense to the mix. It all requires a lot of suspension of disbelief however, and the movie is going to be dead in the water for a lot of people because of that.

Uncaged in no way cares about reality. Roberts' only concern is making sure we have a good time and he isn't going to let a little thing like logic get in the way of that. As a result there are moments so absurd they serve to take even a schlock appreciator like me out of the experience. Yet even at its dumbest I was still having a blast. The expanded cast naturally leads to a higher body count, and the deaths themselves often pop out of nowhere catching you completely off guard. If there's ever going to be a third movie I definitely want Roberts to do something more grounded and thoughtful like the first 47 Meters Down, but this was still a fun bloodbath worth diving into if you're a fan of shark flicks. Just check your brain at the docks.