All shark movies have to have a lot of sequels. This is just a fact. From Jaws to countless SyFy releases, we are constantly bombarded with returns of the monsters. Granted, in this commercial age, sequels are a norm, but when it comes to creature-features they are most definitely a must. After one of the most entertaining shark movies of the nineties, the sequel was simply abysmal, one of those movies so bad that they are good. Deep Blue Sea 3 is actually a decent entry if you’re willing to keep your expectations relatively low. Really cool cinematography, decent shark action, and great underwater footage are the things that make this movie watchable. Plus a definite B movie charm. The CGI was pretty cool, especially towards the end of the movie with some pretty innovative scenes that looked amazing.
The opening sequence was really cool until it was spoiled by a cheap style that they used for the title of the movie. And this will be the story for much of the movie. One step forward, one step back, two steps sideways, and then someone becomes shark food. Which brings me to pacing that kept me awake through pretty tedious mid-section of the movie. Really clunky and not really necessary, it almost ruined the entire vibe. From the awesome beginning with some great underwater footage of divers among live sharks, it transitioned into an attempt of a thriller. The only problem was that this is a B movie and the story was never going to be its strong suit. It is just too predictable and filled with cliches. I wish they tied in the whole AI theme from the second part.
Welcome to Little Happy, a man-made island that was home to an entire village of fishermen until climate change forced them to leave. Now it’s home for a small research team lead by Dr. Emma Collins. They are studying marine life and the effects of climate change. However, that will change after they get a visit from Emma’s old boyfriend who’s now working on genetically manipulating shark DNA…
After the initial obligatory environmental warning, which I thought was going to be the main story in Deep Blue Sea 3, it suddenly brings in the experiments on the sharks from the first two parts. Ahhh, the flashbacks of so many movies that warned us about this just started flashing before my eyes. Movies like the Italian masterpiece Killer Crocodile from 1989 where a group of environmentalist stumbles upon something an environmental disaster. COCCODRILLO! Set on a man-made island, it was refreshing to be out of those cheap corridors of the second part. However, some things transitioned.
Like when in the middle of a movie a guy holds a gun to a mother sharks head in order to get the other sharks to back off. What can you say about a movie when you see something like that? Still, it’s not as bad as a shark listening in to the conversation from the second part. We also have the infamous “I’ll drop my gun and fight you with my bare hands” scene. That’s something that just has to happen in these movies.
Starring Tania Raymonde in her revealing diving suit, the acting was just what you expected it to be. It was so funny to see a male diver in a full diving suit and her in panties. Ahhh, how I miss the nudity of the seventies and eighties. They knew that the movie is not going to be great and used a lot of nudity to keep the viewers interested. And since this is a water movie, a firm male ass or a tittie here or there would be totally appropriate. After all, there were a couple of nasty shark murders with half-eaten corpses and other gore. But I digress, perhaps because I really liked Tania here. And she’s really hot.
If you’re looking to make this movie more fun, try to figure out who would be cast if this was a much bigger movie. I’ll start with Andy Samberg and you can fill in the rest of the stereotypical characters. In the end, Deep Blue Sea 3 is a huge improvement from the second part but still miles away from the original. If you like shark movies, it will be an interesting viewing mostly because of its B movie charm. Not to mention the fact this is not a SyFy production. I wonder what Deep Blue Sea 4 is going to be like…
Director: John Pogue
Writer: Dirk Blackman
Cast: Tania Raymonde, Nathaniel Buzolic, Emerson Brooks, Bren Foster, Reina Aoi, Alex Bhat, Siya Mayola
Fun Facts: Shot in Cape Town, South Africa
Rating:
