DEEP BLUE SEA

DEEP BLUE SEA-United States/ Australia-1999

Saffron Burrows as Dr. Susan McCallister

Thomas Jane as Carter Blake

LL Cool J as Sherman Dudley aka ‘Preacher’

Jacqueline McKenzie as Janice Higgins

Michael Rapaport as Tom Scoggins

Stellan Skarsgård as Jim Whitlock

Samuel L. Jackson as Russell Franklin

Directed by Renny Harlin

Written by Duncan Kennedy and Donna Powers and Wayne Powers

If you went to see “Deep Blue Sea” for its intelligent plot, Oscar-worthy acting and heart-wrenching drama then you are a complete dumb-ass. If you went to see “Deep Blue Sea” to watch dumb people get chewed, chomped and swallowed (no spitting here) by hyper-intelligent Mako sharks then welcome to my world. Why the hell else would you want to see this movie? Tell me; was it the scene where Samuel L. Jackson is delivering his ‘there’s no ‘I’ in team’ speech and gets rudely interrupted? How about when Saffron Burrows takes one for the team? Then there’s Stellan Skarsgård, who goes above and beyond the call of duty to give his right arm (or was it his left?) to further the cause of the killer sharks. To say that Skarsgård is the spearhead that leads the tiburón revolution is the understatement of the decade. Then there’s LL Cool J as the Bible-thumping, booze-swilling Sherman ‘Preacher’ Dudley. He’s no Robert Shaw, but the sharks ate his bird. Its payback time, bitches.

Despite the ridiculous nature of the plot, “Deep Blue Sea” is a load of fun and is arguably the best killer shark movie since “Jaws” from way back in 1975. “Deep Blue Sea” never once takes itself too seriously; it’s stupid as hell and it knows it. Face it, any movie with Thomas Jane as a guy that rides the sharks and pulls license plates out of their mouths is not going for “The Remains of the Day” or “Chariots of Fire” crowd.

TRIVIA

• the license plate pulled from the shark’s teeth is the same plate found in the tiger shark in Jaws.
• Director Renny Harlin has a cameo as one of the employees leaving the facility early in the movie (he’s the one with long, blonde hair and sunglasses).

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