The Shallows

I was very very excited for The Shallows, not only is it a shark film, for which I am massive fans of, it was also named as a really scary, and well done animal monster movie; maybe even one of the best since Jaws. 'A mere 200 yards from shore, surfer Nancy is attacked by a great white shark, with her short journey to safety becoming the ultimate contest of wills.'
I have always loved horror movies that have an animal as a villian, no idea why, I am just drawn to them, I find I like to Google image them... One of my little past times. And my mum likes shark films too, Jaws scares her senseless and she always has to put her feet up while watching them. And my dad thought it looked good so was up for watching it too.
On to the next segment of Mum and Dad...

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The film has a very good opening, with one of the biggest jump scares that I have ever seen, making all three of us watching, jump. The jump isn't even a cheap scare, its a pulled out one, that is thought out, and one that, if thought about, you might see coming, but done at the time that even if you did, it would still make you jump. This is all within the first few minutes, so yes, I had high hopes, especially with Blake Lively leading the role, who I have always liked. I think my parents also had quite high hopes, being that this was the first shark film in a while, and it looked good from what the trailer showed, especially the shark. The shark in the trailer looked real and unlike other films, not CGI at all.
But, and this was a fairly big but, we all felt The Shallows kind of lost it in mid way or such. It started off so strong, and so well done, and then it seemed that started heading towards Jaws 3 territory with how farfetched it got. When Nancy was stuck on the rock, it was a very good film, the makers can pat themselves on the back hard for making this film so freakin' tense and stressful, but once she got on the buoy, it lost all that stalking the shark did and the realism of it. I mean, as realistic as a shark film can be, being that they don't tend to like human meat and don't tend to be as nasty, the shark in this is a great white and they are definitely not the most dangerous. In all fairness, the shark probably would have given up and left her be, especially as this shark had already eaten at least three people - which again, is not like sharks.

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I know what you're saying though, it is a movie and so is not real, yes, and if the shark took the characteristics of a real shark, it would not be a very good film. That said though, the death of the shark could have been a lot better. Up until that point, it had lost some of its charm, but it still was enjoyable, the death just seemed to be a way of trying to come up with a new, original death, that just didn't come across well.
The film as a whole had some very good moments, and some very tense scares, and until right at the end, me and my dad were very very impressed by the shark, even when there was a close up - it never really looked fake. And being in a world of CGI filled films of nowadays, that is impressive... I can't forget the nods to Jaws either...
I enjoyed this. My mum was stressed by it, as she is normally, which makes a good film, and it kept the tension well. It didn't effect them, mainly mother, like Eden Lake did, but she definitely still had her feet up while watching - just incase for any sharks...

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