Review of Sharkwater (2006) by Brent S — 20 Jun 2015

This film is eye opening and for the most part fairly well done. the plight of the sharks is compelling and powerful. I believe this documentary was close to being a great peice of work but there are some very large amateur mistakes.

The biggest problem I had with it is the filmmaker himself Rob Stewart. Ostentatious is the only word that comes to mind. His narrating really pulls you out of the film and away from the powerful facts being brought up. It has the cadence of a teenage boy trying to lower his voice to sound cooler, mixed with a politician speaking slow and monotonously which even becomes slightly insulting at times. Most people watching this dont need to be spoken to like a child and it ruins the message. When he's on camera and speaking normally he sounds completely different, the contrast is just offputting.

The film really does drag to a grinding hault at various spots that involve the film maker essentially trying to make a hero or a victim out of himself. Entirely unnecessary shots of him shirtless for no reason, staring off into the distance fixing his hair... its just awkward. The last 10 minutes of the film is filled with important messages being spoken from various experts and concerned people accompanied by shots of him swimming in a speedo and flexing randomly underwater.... He tries to fabricate drama and danger anyway he can, talking about the mafia being after him, almost losing his leg from a minor staff infection, having to sneak into costa rica to film previously mentioned speedo shot... theres just a lot of superfluous nonsense that really took away from the film.

All that being said... you get used to most of those issues about 20 minutse in and if you can get past it, this is a really good documentary. I just think it could have been so much better with a talented narrator, and a more humble cadence.