Director: Renny Harlan
Year: 1999
Country: USA/Mexico
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Sharks
Plot:
Working on a cure for Alzheimer's, the crew of an underwater exploration facility learns the genetically-enhanced sharks used as lab-rats in the experiments have gained super-intelligence through the tests and are hunting them down one at a time after escaping capture as they try to escape.
Review:
While this isn't without its flaws there's certainly a fun time to be had. Among the film's best assets is that this one manages to generate an effective setup for it's sharks which turns it into a pretty enjoyable piece. The fact that this is probably at it's best as it works the unique killer-shark-on-the-rampage scenario that has been developed, making full use of the facility and its surroundings to concoct a series of chilling, suspense-filled chase scenes that are just plain fun. The attack on the facility itself, from the attack at the helicopter to the destruction of the panel carrying the victim, coupled with the escape from the flooding elevator hatch before the sharks come in, a series of rather fun and impressive action scenes that are just an absolute blast making these parts the film's true highlights.
That allows the rest of the film to entertain a series of fun stalking scenes getting the sharks into some rather fun moments. The initial strike with the shark roaring to life on the operating table is a classic shock jump, while the extended battle in the kitchen offers up some intriguing moments with the creature taking on plenty of fun slasher villain tactics to get at their prey. That sets the stage for the other big attacks which are perhaps some of the best examples of this feeling, with the big confrontation in the elevator shaft as well as the later scene inside the flooded facility and eventual escape, to the action at the end inside the compound which are a blast and uses that kind of action to give this a nice finish. As these are often punctuated with some fantastic gore in a series of brutal kills that come off as impressive no matter how seemingly unrealistic they would be, these hold the film up over it's main flaws.
The film's biggest blunder that's nearly impossible to ignore is just how inane the whole plot itself really is. There's almost nothing here to suggest this is in anyway rational, from the methods of experimentation which is completely wrong and ludicrous how they try to implement the various science techniques and procedures which are incorporated throughout here. That is just a large part of what holds it back since it spends so much time trying to hammer home the science of the processes of conducting the research as well as just about every piece about the operation within, which are far from realistic and just tend to become aggravating after awhile due to the sheer logistical difficulties in examining how it's gone. Even the sharks look bad, the apparent CGI being all the more obvious in scenes where the behavior is so uncharacteristic that it becomes striking after a while. Overall, this is a fun film if you can ignore the rationale of it all.
Overview: *** 1/2/5
With some rather enjoyable elements present here that might be enough to enjoy on most accounts over the negatives, the film is a lot of fun with some issues that can hold it back. This is definitely worthwhile for those that enjoy this kind of killer shark film or enjoy the mainstream style of creature feature, although those that aren't into these kinds of films should heed caution.
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