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The Shallows (1 Viewer)

Tino

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Saw this yesterday. A terrific little thriller. Blake Lively is lively as a surfer battling a great white shark.

Lean, mean, beautiful photography and a simple premise make this one of the best films of the summer.

⭐⭐⭐⭐️ Out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
 

Colin Jacobson

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Hmm... interesting. Not sure I like any shark movies that aren't "Jaws" but I'll probably give this a look.

If I don't like it, I'll blame Tino! :D
 

Tino

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It really has nothing in common with Jaws other than it has a great white in it.
 

Patrick Sun

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I thought this was pretty decent. It's a small story, but once you get past the minimal character intro setup, it's fairly engaging.

I give it 3 stars or a grade of B.
 

Colin Jacobson

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I thought this was pretty decent. It's a small story, but once you get past the minimal character intro setup, it's fairly engaging.

I give it 3 stars or a grade of B.

I thought it handled the character elements fine. We know Nancy's mother died fairly recently - presumably from cancer, IIRC - and that she's still in healing mode. She seems to branch off from her dad and sister to recover on her own, and she thinks it's best to take a special trip to some place her mother held dear.

That seems like sufficient set-up, honestly - I'm not sure what else we need to know. The intro gives us some insights into the character and provides the explanation why she's alone - her party-hearty friend was too hungover to go with her...
 

Tino

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I also the the texting visual effects were cool too.
 

Malcolm R

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Finally saw this today. For the most part, I enjoyed it. The photography was beautiful and the visual FX were well done. It shows a mostly realistic CG shark is actually possible contrary to what the SyFy channel would have you believe..

I had some issue with the sequence where she is timing the shark's pattern. When she's timing the shark, it's just making lazy circles in the water. If it wanted to, it could surely close the distance in half that time. I'm also not sure I buy the climax, though it was pretty cool.

It was kind of unfortunate that the changes in location were so blatant, from the nice, quiet cove with no surf at all to the massive waves in the surfing scenes. Obviously different locations.
 
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Charles J P

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Stupid question but is this more of a tension thriller or a jump scare movie? I'm not a huge fan of the latter. Despite the low budget, I thought Open Water was a fantastic movie. Not sure if anyone has seen that one.
 

DavidJ

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Stupid question but is this more of a tension thriller or a jump scare movie? I'm not a huge fan of the latter. Despite the low budget, I thought Open Water was a fantastic movie. Not sure if anyone has seen that one.

Tension thriller.
 

WillG

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Finally saw this today. For the most part, I enjoyed it. The photography was beautiful and the visual FX were well done. It shows a mostly realistic CG shark is actually possible contrary to what the SyFy channel would have you believe..

I had some issue with the sequence where she is timing the shark's pattern. When she's timing the shark, it's just making lazy circles in the water. If it wanted to, it could surely close the distance in half that time. I'm also not sure I buy the climax, though it was pretty cool.

It was kind of unfortunate that the changes in location were so blatant, from the nice, quiet cove with no surf at all to the massive waves in the surfing scenes. Obviously different locations.

Generally, I liked the movie, but I did think in some shots it was painfully obvious the shark was CGI. Not "Sharknado" bad, but still obvious.

The timing of the shark's pattern may seem suspect, but it was logical and there really weren't many other option. I find it more suspect that a shark would just circle the same area over and over as if it was waiting for Livley to make a swim for it (granted I could be way off and this is indeed typical shark behavior).

I'm also not sure sure I'm buying the fate of the shark.

One last nitpick and it's not exclusive to this movie, but I don't like it when movies feel they give a character some kind of tragic backstory that has no real bearing on the story. Just seems like such a base form of manipulation. Another example was with Bullock in "Gravity"
 

Malcolm R

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I find it more suspect that a shark would just circle the same area over and over as if it was waiting for Livley to make a swim for it (granted I could be way off and this is indeed typical shark behavior).
I think the intent was that this was a battle for territory, rather than a hungry shark killing for food (the shark didn't seem to eat the people she killed). Nancy approached the whale carcass that had been claimed by the shark, interrupting her feeding and invading her space. So the shark was responding to a perceived threat/challenge to her territory and her feast. The only way for the shark to defend her territory is to patrol and confront any threats.

The shark's behavior in Jaws was similarly explained by Hooper. The shark had discovered a food source and staked a claim to the waters off Amity Island, defending itself against any threats.

I think the behavior is exaggerated for the sake of the plot. Sharks are known to make regular patrols around the same area, but it's usually hundreds or thousands of miles rather than just a small area.
 

WillG

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I think the intent was that this was a battle for territory, rather than a hungry shark killing for food (the shark didn't seem to eat the people she killed). Nancy approached the whale carcass that had been claimed by the shark, interrupting her feeding and invading her space. So the shark was responding to a perceived threat/challenge to her territory and her feast. The only way for the shark to defend her territory is to patrol and confront any threats.

The shark's behavior in Jaws was similarly explained by Hooper. The shark had discovered a food source and staked a claim to the waters off Amity Island, defending itself against any threats.

I think the behavior is exaggerated for the sake of the plot. Sharks are known to make regular patrols around the same area, but it's usually hundreds or thousands of miles rather than just a small area.

I know Jaws used Hooper's territoriality theory to explain why Bruce was hanging around Amity, but even then it didn't take the idea drastically far. For example, even though when Hooper and Brody went to the likely area Bruce was feeding in, Hooper wasn't scared at all to jump into the water to inspect Ben Gardener's boat. He knew that the chances of Bruce being in that exact spot was extremely remote. Even later in the movie he's baffled by its beahavior "Did you ever have one like this......."...."No!" Also, I read things that suggest that once a shark feeds, it can go weeks before it needs to eat again.

The shark behavior in Shallows is exaggerated, but sometimes it seemed as is it was a sentient shark like the one that chased the Brodys to the Bahamas in Jaws 4
 

DavidJ

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I would mostly agree. There are a couple of scenes that may make you jump, but that's the exception rather than the rule.

Watched this tonight with my wife who hadn't seen it. There are more jump scare moments than I remembered, Charles. I'd still say if leans toward building tension though.
 

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