It seems like shark movies never really go out of style. Every year, a new crop arrives, promising bigger sharks, bloodier attacks, and ridiculous circumstances designed to serve up some unlucky group of people for lunch. Most of these movies land firmly in B-movie territory, and that’s honestly part of the fun. If they deliver a few good scares and at least one or two attacks worth talking about afterward, audiences are usually willing to overlook thin characters, rubbery practical effects, or CGI sharks that look more at home in a video game. Even truly awful shark movies like Thrash, which came out earlier this year, lend the genre appeal. Ever since Jaws turned the great white shark into one of film’s most lasting nightmares, filmmakers have tried to recreate that same mix of fear, suspense, and movie magic. Few have come close, but the appeal endures because the fear at the center of the movies is universal. The ocean is already a vast, dark, and somewhat mysterious space. Add a hungry predator below the surface, and most moviegoers will already be on the edge of their seats.

Nearly three decades after giving moviegoers the classic guilty pleasure Deep Blue Sea, director Renny Harlin returns to shark-infested waters with Deep Water. But he isn’t just repeating himself here; instead, he and a team of screenwriters have meshed a traditional shark thriller with an old-school disaster movie. Which has resulted in a somewhat entertaining throwback thriller that would’ve been right at home alongside other summer popcorn movies of the 90s. The setup is very simple in the best way. Ben (Aaron Eckhart) is an aging pilot working as a first officer for a second-tier airline while worrying about his seriously ill son back home. Beside him in the cockpit is Rich (Ben Kingsley), the flight’s seasoned captain. Eckhart is once again playing the dependable professional we’ve seen him take on in several recent B-movies, and he brings enough grit and intensity to keep Ben easy to root for. Kingsley, meanwhile, gives the movie a boost just by showing up. The role doesn’t ask much of him, but his presence adds weight to the whole thing.

The passenger list is made up of familiar disaster movie archetypes. There’s the obnoxious jerk (Angus Sampson) who might as well have “shark bait” stamped on his forehead. There are newlyweds Declan (Ryan Brown) and Jaya (Kelly Gale), who are traveling with their children from previous marriages: his moody pre-teen daughter (Molly Belle Wright) and her young son (Elijah Tamati). Also thrown into the mix are a couple of star-crossed esports gamers (Li Wenhan, Zhao Simei) and a feisty grandmother (Kate Fitzpatrick). None of these characters are especially deep, but they and the rest of the passengers don’t need to be. They give the audience just enough to care about them when the flight turns into a nightmare. And once they’re all in the air and things go wrong, Harlin really lets things rip.

The plane crash sequence is the clear highlight of the movie, and it is almost worth the price of admission on its own. It’s arguably the best thing Harlin has directed in years (the less said about his recent The Strangers trilogy, the better). The sequence is cleverly constructed, sharply edited, and genuinely nerve-rattling, capturing every second of chaos as the plane tears apart in midair. Passengers are tossed around the cabin, bodies are bloodied, and some are sucked right out into the sky. It’s a relentlessly brutal and thrilling sequence that stands out as one of the best any disaster movie has brought to life.

Unfortunately, the movie never quite reaches that high point again, and the drop is noticeable. Once the survivors are floating in the Pacific, the movie starts to look cheaper and more confined. Instead of feeling like these desperate people are stranded hundreds of miles from shore, the scenes start to look and feel like actors are just splashing around in a large studio tank. To Harlin’s credit, he seems to understand the problem and keeps the movie moving at a fast enough pace that the movie’s apparent modest budget doesn’t sink it overall. The shark scenes may not match the intensity of the crash, but they still have plenty of bite. When the makos attack, they are vicious. That edge helps keep the tension alive until the movie wraps up.

Nothing in Deep Water will surprise you. The characters are too familiar, the plot twists are easy to spot, and the emotional beats tend to push a little too hard into melodrama. Even so, the movie still works more often than not. Fifty years after Jaws scared audiences out of the ocean, countless shark movies have tried to give chase. Those behind Deep Water know they’re never going to catch Spielberg’s classic, and honestly, they don’t seem interested in trying. Instead, they’ve set their sights on something simpler: crafting a tense, fast-paced thriller with enough teeth and B-movie fun to keep viewers hooked. And thanks to Harlin’s energetic direction, that genuinely awesome crash sequence, and Aaron Eckhart’s fully committed performance, they deliver exactly that. For shark movie fans, that should be more than enough reason to dive in.

Deep Water is currently available to rent on VOD.

REVIEW: “Deep Water”

REVIEW: “Hokum”