Review of Deep Blue Sea (1999) by Shane G — 23 Dec 2009

Deep Blue Sea involves a group of scientists in an underwater lab experimenting on Mako sharks. But in their attempts to harvest Alzheimer's-curing protein from their brains, the scientists make the sharks smarter. And so on the eve of their big experiment, the sharks strike and leave the crew of the lab running (and swimming) for their lives as everything sinks around them.

Another in my long line of campy movies I favor. It captures us with the great opening theme, which is literally all that keeps the opening few minutes from being full-on silly Syfy-channel fare. And the second scene is just poor, even with Samuel L. Jackson's appearance. Susan (Saffron Burrows) was just so flat & wooden, which pretty much describes the scene & cast entirely. Our second female Jan (played by Jacqueline McKenzie) is about as passionate as a newscaster. But at the very least she improves. Much like our heroine, our hero Carter (played by Tom Jane) is pretty much just flaccid and unengaging. Sam Jackson just phones this one in as well. LL Cool J puts his best foot forward & manages to keep up with the other lacking cast-members. Though there are touches of SCS (Stupid Character Syndrome) going around.

Which brings me to the script. In itself, it was just fine, but it was handled awkwardly by our somewhat unwilling cast. And to make matters worse, certain lines feel out of place like they got a little cut-happy in post-production. The script adds enough depth to the characters, but fails to really pull us into liking them. It feels like there's so much left out; as if it could have been a book.

The plot has so many holes & logic-failures that it may as well be made of cheese. Combined with the fact that it's spawned from that good kind of fun science-fiction cheese, taking little jabs at horror films every now & then. And all this cheese hardly gums up the action. It still stands as entertaining and well-crafted. It moves quickly with decent pacing, and director Renny Harlin (Die Hard 2, Cliffhanger) puts his talent of winding tension to use in some small way. But the plot of survival isn't all that interesting; you're just waiting for the next bozo to get eaten. And the "plot twist" at the end carries none but philosophical weight, failing to be revelatory.

The special effects are easy to spot (especially underwater), but they are evenly balanced between passable & terrible. Otherwise the production values were excellent. Fine sets & machine-work that makes the transition between CG sharks & mech-sharks an easy one. And Harlin's camerawork is actually quite effective.

Overall the fine production values, decent directing, and the fine score are all that really keep this ship afloat in the sea of horrid Syfy films. At best the script is decent. At worst, patchy and awkward. The characters are too shallow to care about, and any scenes they obviously cut out (recognizable through the awkwardness of the dialogue) simply wouldn't be worth it because the acting is wobbly enough as it is. It's a fun cheesy sci-fi flick to be enjoyed only half-seriously (if that). You could take some sort of interest out of the religious theme present, but it's a slim chance you will. It's half-crap, and it's fun. "Deep Blue Sea" chomps 4.5 scientists out of 10.

"You see how that works? She screwed with the sharks. Now the sharks; they're screwin' with US." -Tom Scoggins.