Four teenage girls decide to go diving underwater and explore an old Mayan city. While they have fun exploring the old ruins, they soon discover they are not alone. The girls are now trapped in the maze of ruins with oxygen tanks that are reducing by the minute. But to top it off, they’re also being hunted by an old, large shark who has been circling the maze for many years.
At the start of the film, we get an introduction to the leading ladies, but most of the focus goes onto two of them. As I watched the introductions unfold, I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at some of the dialogue being used. It made me feel that I was too old to enjoy this film because it felt like it was aimed at teenagers. The dialogue is a major disappointment. Listening to a young girl explain to a family member how much she hates where she lives with the beach right in the background of her house and signs of her family’s wealth gives the impression that the character is spoilt rather than making the audience care. The reality is, this scene should be about her dealing with a bully and hating life or her living arrangements and is a missed opportunity to provide a proper message or meaning. There are many moments like this one.
But as for it being a shark film, it takes a while for our leads to meet the big shark. Lots of set up and a general discovery of the ruins takes place first. Once the girls bump into the shark the film is truly in motion. But don’t worry, with these cliché characters, it’s predictable to work out who dies first and so on.
The film also has technical flaws which are annoying once you discover them. Some of these include the girls being able to speak to each other perfectly underwater but their ears are exposed to the water without any earbuds in them and then they also switch between talking normally to each other and being on radio… ok, sure, no problems.
From a visual point of view, I found the film challenging to enjoy. Dark bland seawater and characters wearing masks made it generally an effort to keep working out what’s going on. Granted, some visuals are positive, but this is mostly during both the 1st and 3rd acts. Sound effects and audio design was pleasing. I watched this film with my wife and the audio gave one of us a few jumps scares.
As for the main plot, there are some cool concepts here, but it’s done with weak leading characters. There are also far too many coincidences to accept in this film. The most enjoyable part of this film was easily the final act even though it’s naturally way over the top. As a sequel there is also zero connection to the previous instalment from 2017…but this didn’t bother me only because I didn’t enjoy the last film anyway.
Overall, I feel this film wasn’t made for me but was more made for a teenager audience. Sure there are some minor jumps scare but our leading characters are extremely cliché with far too many unwise choices and coincidences which audiences would generally not enjoy. The film’s concept is a great idea, for shark movie but its combination here is a big disappointment.
3.8/10
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