A thrilling summer movie ride

Film review: The Shallows

MANILA, Philippines – Forty-one years after Jaws, and it’s still not safe to get in the water, even if you’re only 200 yards away from the shoreline.

This would be the premise of The Shallows, the latest in a long line of shark attack-inspired films. If there is a lesson to be drawn from the film, it would be that sharks and men are from the shallow and bottom end of the gene pool, while women are the superior inhabitants of this world, able to withstand any obstacle and outsmart any predator. While the men fall victim in rapid succession, it is Nancy (Blake Lively), with the assistance of a seagull that stands (or flies) tall at the film’s end.

A medical student whose mother has recently passed away, Nancy (Lively) goes surfing on her own in a secluded Mexican beach which was the favorite of her late Mom. After the preliminaries of establishing her character, introducing us to her sister and father (via her Sony Experia, as this a Sony-produced film), director Jaume Collet-Serra wastes no time in giving us truly breath-taking shots of water, surf, waves and that ominous underwater presence. At the beach, there are two male Mexican surfers who we know are there purely to raise the body count. That’s the basic premise and what follows is a gut-wrenching, nail-biting journey into aquatic terror, survival and feminine wiles.

Serra is best known for horror films such as Orphan, and suspense films such as Unknown and Non-Stop which both starred Liam Neeson. Combining these two genres and giving us one hell of a ride would seem to be tailor-made for Serra.

To his credit, Serra knows that visual acrobatics, panoramic shots and visceral close-ups of our true co-star, the shark, will make or break the film. Unlike Jaws, where Steven Spielberg made full use of the John Williams musical score to heighten tension and announce the shark’s presence, Serra depends solely on the editing and brisk camera work to deliver the goods. Suspension of disbelief is the order of the day, and this is especially required at the film’s end which I personally found somewhat far-fetched. But thanks to the manner in which Serra takes us to that point, I am certain most will forgive this narrative slip.

Armed with surfboard, smartphone and seagull may not seem like much, but when it comes to Woman vs. Shark, the smart money will always be with Woman. The only “male” that survives the outing would be the buoy. And even then, not by much, as it also ends up as a mangled piece of metal. The Shallows delivers and makes for a thrilling summer movie ride.

(The Shallows opens nationwide on Wednesday, Aug. 10.)