Will any animal ever approach the cinematic presence of sharks? There are movies about wolves, whales, crocodiles, snakes, lions, tigers, and bears, but none of those predators have the versatility of sharks. These hunters of the deep can be the central threat of any narrative, but the silliest examples stand out. Look no further thanDeep Blue Seafor a film with smart sharks and stupid writing.
Samuel L. Jackson is oneof the most prolific performers in Hollywood, for good and for ill. His willingness to say yes to almost anything gets him into many great projects and several terrible ones. The fact that fans never have to go more than a month without seeing him allows his worst decisions to roll off of him without leaving a stain. Jackson has that in common with sharks. As long as they appear in a good movie now and again, all is forgiven.
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What isDeep Blue Seaabout?
Deep Blue Seatakes place in an underwater research facility where a team of scientists is on the verge of curing Alzheimer’s. Their work requires complex genetic engineeringperformed on mako sharks. Dr. Susan McCallister and Dr. Jim Whitlock lead the project. Shark wrangler Carter Blake, marine biologist Janice Higgins, and engineer Tom Scoggins aid the scientists. When one of Susan and Jim’s sharks escapes containment and nearly kills a boat full of vacationing twenty-somethings, their financial backers grow suspicious. Susan and Jim’s life’s work is on the line as the company sends an executive named Russell Franklin to evaluate the facility.
In short order, Jim loses his arm to one of his sharks. A medevac arrives to fly Jim to safety, but a malfunction sends him hurling into the shark tank. With one mighty pull, the shark pulls the helicopter down, crashing it into the facility and causing a series of devastating explosions. Jim is killed, and the crew is forced to seek a way out of a rapidly sinking structurefull of powerful sharks. As they struggle to reach a submersible and escape, Susan admits that her research has gotten out of hand. Against protocol, she and Jim were genetically enhancing their subjects, making them larger, smarter, and more violent. With the help of the facility’s chef Preacher, Susan, Carter, Janice, Tom, and Franklin must outwit the enhanced apex predators and find a way to the surface.
Where doesDeep Blue Seafit into the shark movie genre?
Deep Blue Seawas initially dreamed up by screenwriter Duncan Kennedy, who has written very few projects. The spec script emerged after a reoccurring nightmare about mind-reading sharks. Warner Bros. picked upDeep Blue Seaand attached director Renny Harlin. Several unnamed writers took a crack at the story before it was passed to Donna and Wayne Powers for the final draft. It morphed several times throughout the process. Kennedy’s stated goal was to create a new kind of shark horror movie in a world that had beendominated byJawsripoffsfor years. Harlin sawDeep Blue Seaas a return to serious, high-production-value horror along the lines ofAlienorThe Shining. Though an infinitesimal amount of Kennedy’s original work wound up in the final product, it’s safe to say that he succeeded and Harlin failed.
Shark movies have always varied wildly in tone and presentation.BeforeJaws, they tended toward tawdry exploitation horror films. Beaches full of women in bathing suits terrorized by barely-relevant footage of a deep sea predator was the norm at the time. Samuel Fuller’sSharkcame out six years beforeJaws, and its most notable achievement was getting a stuntman killed by a shark during filming. A photo of the real death is captured on the film’s poster. AfterJaws, directors tried to capitalize on the idea by producing films likeOrca. Similar ideas with a different animal. However,Deep Blue Seawas arguably the moment that sounded the starting gun for silly shark movies. The exact kind of tongue-in-cheek horror films that Harlin wanted to overturn was emboldened byDeep Blue Sea.The Meg,Sharknado, and every other Sci-Fi channel original hasDeep Blue Seato thank. Kennedy even returned to the sea with an additional writing credit on the 2014 filmBait.
How doesDeep Blue Seaend?
The funniest moment inDeep Blue Seacomes when Franklin Russell delivers an inspiring speech about survival, only to be suddenly devoured. Tom and Janiceare killed by sharks. Susan electrocutes a shark. This kills the threat and destroys her research. Carter realizes that the sharks are deliberately flooding the facility to escape into the sea. Though they swim to the surface, Susan sacrifices herself to distract the final shark. Preacher shoots it with a harpoon and electrocutes it to death. Carter and Preacher, the only survivors, watch as a boat approaches.
Deep Blue Seais a fun action horror film and an important milestone in the shark movie genre. Fans of anything fromBait, toSharknado,toThe MegwillloveDeep Blue Sea. See a film that promises intelligent sharks and delivers joyously dumb storytelling.
