The Shallows Blu-ray review: Blake Lively is more than treading water in this fast-paced, edge of your seat shark thriller.
Read The Shallows Blu-ray review below.
It doesn’t like it’s that safe to go back into the water again if this Blake Lively-led shark thriller is anything to go by.
The set-up of The Shallows is rather simple. Lively’s character Nancy is introduced to us as she is being chauffeured to a rather remote beach on the coast of Mexico to find that perfect surf. As we’re repeatedly reminded, this picturesque shoreline doesn’t have a name – at least it, or indeed the locals, don’t want anyone to know that it has a name to stop hordes of tourists flocking to it every day. Something that does know of its location is a gigantic great white shark whose only aim in life is to attack any living thing that dares to swim in its shallow waters. So, when Nancy decides to take advantage of the perfect surf, she manages to get a chunk bitten out of her left leg by said beast. Stranded on a rock 200 metres from the shore, that will submerge when high tide returns in just a few hours time, Nancy has to figure out a way of getting to safety without becoming the shark’s next big meal.
There’s tons of fun to be had with this action-thriller that just about manages to find the right balance of between thrills and parody. Obviously drawing inspiration from the likes of Jaws but steering clear of the over-blown exploits of Sharknado, our only comparison flick from recent years, the film keeps the viewer safely on the edge of their seat throughout. Lively devours her heroine role with aplomb, ably carrying the film (she’s in every scene), but with a final act that borders on the ridiculous and an ending more cheesy than a bag of Wotsits, The Shallows will only satisfy just about as much as the maize-based snack. Although we were largely thrilled by director Jaume Collet-Serra‘s nicely executed direction, we felt very hungry for more as the credits rolled.
Read our theatrical review of The Shallows here.
Extras include: Deleted Scenes, How To Build A Shark featurette, Shooting In The Shallows featurette, Finding The Perfect Beach: Lord Howe Island featurette, When Sharks Attack featurette. Perfectly good viewing but instantly disposable.
The Shallows is available on next-generation 4K Ultra HD™, Digital, Blu-ray™ Steelbook, Blu-ray™ now.
