Deep Blue Sea

• Directed by Renny Harlin
• July 28, 1999

After a storm devastates a research facility, the survivors must fend off a group of genetically engineered sharks hunting them.

Deep Blue Sea is a bit of a guilty pleasure of a movie. It is well done ludicrous entertainment on the side of the nature’s revenge genre. Like most (but not all of them) the story requires a combination of science-fiction elements and extraordinary circumstances to happen. This is not an everyday event that just spiraled out of control. These are genetically enhanced sharks. Super killers with an escape plan.

The problems of the story are mostly caused by scientist Dr. Susan McCallister (Saffron Burrows) who along with her team has been mucking around with sharks as part of their Alzheimer’s research-even after these sharks show signs of increased intelligence. That seems smart. What strikes me is that this is not part of some nefarious corporate plot. Corporate bigwig Russell Franklin (Samuel L. Jackson) comes off as a largely decent character and is as surprised as anybody by what is being done.

Early in the film when we are first introduced to Franklin, he and McCallister are in an office with actor Ronnie Cox in a never identified part. Cox utters not a word but rather sits and looks at both. This was 12 years post RoboCop so people knew his face and to have somebody so recognizable do nothing really sticks out to me. Why is he even there? I’m sure his lines-if he had any-were edited out because of any random number of reasons, but they have a character there that absolutely does nothing other than look at the two people in the scene and he’s clearly somebody significant. It is really weird. Anywho…

It is tough to do a killer shark movie that is not a bad rehash of Jaws. There is only so much you can do and only so many ways to get people in the water when to avoid issues they just need to stay dry. Deep Blue Sea manages to solve that issue and give a plausible sounding situation as to why this group is stuck within snack range of the hungry threat.

The sharks are largely animatronic with CGI used only as necessary. THAT CGI has aged poorly as CGI will do but does not detract from the overall product. Harlin uses it as necessary to do things on screen that the fake shark could not.

Most of the cast is there to die. This is a movie about killer sharks after all. Mercifully they are all not disposable or interchangeable but contribute something to the story. They help move things forward. Even the ones that die first. They set the stage and you feel a little something when they get chomped.

LL Cool J is absolutely fantastic as Preacher in this. He is not only the comic relief, but the ordinary guy caught in extraordinary circumstances. Preacher is the one the viewer can easily identify with and would kinda want to be like if they found themselves facing such a ridiculous problem.

Deep Blue Sea walks a fine line between intelligent and dumb. It knows exactly what it is but also does not say “Screw it” and not try. It introduces its elements and uses them logically in the extraordinary world that it is. But it’s not a world grounded in reality. Harlan was smart enough to limit CGI and focus more on practical effects.

Humor is used to lighten the mood but not mute it. The kills are gory without being stupid. And the sharks feel like they have a chance of succeeding. There is style and never a dead spot.

Deep Blue Sea is a good nature revenge movie. This has everything for a good viewing. You cannot go wrong here!