NEW BLOOD: THE SHALLOWS

THE SHALLOWS
Columbia 2016 Color 87 Mins.
Horror/Thriller
Blake Lively stars.
Written by Anthony Jaswinski
Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra
Rated PG-13 for language and violence.

Blake Lively portrays Nancy a young woman in nursing school who finds herself stranded on a rock after a brutal shark attack. The movie is simplistic in it's motivations but Lively's character is well outlined as a smart, resourceful heroine unafraid to fight back against her grisly predator. Beautifully shot and expertly directed by Jaume Collet-Serra I went into The Shallows with very high expectations which were mostly met. You see I'm a huge fan of killer shark flicks two of my favorites being Jaws and Deep Blue sea two films at entirely different ends of the cinematic spectrum. I'm also a fan of Lively after her stunning, tortured turn in Age of Adaline. She takes nancy from a young woman trying to process her grief to a kick ass heroine. the journey is an impressive one to watch. 

 I'm also a fan of Collet-Serra I found his House of Wax remake to be a near perfect slasher film and his disturbing "Orphan" to be near perfection. As always in Collet-Serras works the film has a beautiful physique the cinematography feels grand and colorful. All in all everything works damn well in this film I just wish there would have been a little more to it. Don't get me wrong I love the simplicity of it and that alone lends itself to some explosive encounters and edge of your seat suspense but I wish we could have known Nancy a bit more, Lively does extremely well with her character pulling depth out of an underwritten role. But I just wish there was a bit more struggle and a bit more of a payoff. Still there's more than enough here to wet your bloody cinematic appetites the film features tons of gorgeous visuals and some finely timed gut wrenching surprises .It all culminates to a slightly silly but overly entertaining action packed finale. The Shallows may not be on par with the terror of Jaws or the extreme fun of Deep Blue Sea but it's a smart, efficient, horror thriller. ****.25/5