First Thrash now this, is it gonna be shark season in 2026? Alright jokes aside, let's get to it.
Deep Water is a survival movie that's produced by Magenta Light Studios (who are also the distributor too), Arclight Films, Simmons/Hamilton Productions, Nostromo Pictures, Aristos Films, and DW Film Holdings. The screenplay was written by Pete Bridges, Shayne Armstrong, S.P. Krause, and Damien Power, with Renny Harlin directing.
The story is, it was all suppose to be a simple flight for passengers going from Los Angeles to Shanghai, but it that all changed when their plane is damaged and the pilots are formed to make an emergency landing in the middle of the sea. Now they all must come together to get help and more importantly survive the sharks that were drawn to the wreckage.
Initial Reaction
My reason for wanting to see this is as simple as it gets. It looked like it might be a fun turn off your brain movie. And I am not above seeing a popcorn flick.
Cons
I've got nothing.
Middle Ground
The mix bag stems from our characters. Other than Aaron Eckhart's character, I didn't really care for some. Some of them either learn into decent enough well others are just plain one-dimensional. Then there's the special effects. The plane crash sequence looks really good. Definitely some top notch work there. Some of the effects are the sharks are good, other times you can plainly tell there was some pretty obvious CGI. It also doesn't help there was times when you could tell a green screen was involved. The other mix aspect was the kills. If you were expecting Harlin to bring the same brutal shark attack action he brought to Deep Blue Sea, well then you're only gonna get that in a small dose. Some kills are brutal, others happen too quickly, and some happen off screen. The last thing I'll touch on is the story. Now it'll come as no surprise but this isn't gonna break any new ground. It's a very simple, formulaic story. But I think it provides enough thrills that you can forgive it, if only slightly.
Pros
The only two real praise I can give is to Aaron Eckhart's performance. No this isn't one of his greatest performances ever, but he brings enough stoic heroism to keep you interested. The other is Harlin's craftsmanship. The guy really knows how stage chaos and bring you some thrills, even when working with a small budget.
Overall while I'd wish Deep Water was more like Deep Blue Sea where it embraces its shlock factor more, this can be worth viewing as a rental or streaming.
My final rating is, Okay.
So that's gonna do it for now. Come back on Monday, May 4th, for a brand new Fan Film Mondays. And we'll be celebrating May The 4th Be With You by reviewing the very first fan film I ever saw. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.
