The Deep Blue Sea franchise returns with a third movie. Simply titled Deep Blue Sea 3, the film is a direct sequel to 2018’s Deep Blue Sea 2, which was entirely separate from the first film that started it all. This time around, the action shifts from the super high-tech Titanic-like facilities, to a sunken island town in the ocean. Here we join Emma Collins (Tania Raymonde), an eminent marine biologist, and her crew whom are observing the first known Great White mating area. Unfortunately, the enhanced Bull Sharks that escaped in Deep Blue Sea 2 are also there with their own evolutionary goal: cross-breeding with the bigger faster Great Whites. A team of hunters believe that the Bull Sharks contain the key to intelligence enhancement, which they secretly intend to sell for big profits. Now Emma and her crew are trapped on crumbling stilt houses mere feet over the ocean, caught between predators above and below the water.
Deep Blue Sea 2 appeared to try and replicate Deep Blue Sea exactly, keeping the story pretty similar and encountering the same underwater facility meltdown crisis. The result didn’t come off well; for one, we’ve already seen that film, and two, the budgets were vastly different. Fortunately, Deep Blue Sea 3‘s director John Pogue, and writer Dirk Blackman, have gone back to the drawing board and have crafted a story that has some originality. For example, rather than having an underwater fortress, the main plot unfolds within a skeleton town above the water. The shark threat are of course related to those in Deep Blue Sea 2 and this links the film nicely into the franchise, but doesn’t dwell on the connection too much. There’s also a very human component to the threat which adds that extra level of tension and stress. Emma and her colleagues find themselves trapped between both dangers and it leaves the audience trying to work out which one is worse. It’s similar to the predicament faced by J-Lo and Ice Cube during the Anaconda climax – do they stay with the clearly murderous Jon Voight, or go for a swim in man-eating anaconda infested water.
Setting the story above the surface also means that we get to enjoy some beautiful and colourful scenery. It’s a welcome respite from the bleak greyness of the previous films. Whilst we’re discussing refreshing changes, it seems only right to mention that we finally get a main female character in the series that understands how to fully zip-up her wet-suit. The other films have appeared to rely heavily on exposed cleavage to maintain interest in the female characters. Thankfully, the world has moved on from this and Emma is a complex enough character without having to rely on any cheap shots. What gratuitous nudity there is comes in the form of shirtless men, mainly The Vampire Diaries‘ Nathaniel Buzolic, which is another rare sighting in these films. These may seem like trivial points to dwell on, but they demonstrate that Hollywood is trying to move on from its past mistakes.
The underwater action ups the ante this time around. Our cast of characters fight each other, and the sharks, for their lives. In order to pull off all of the underwater work, the cast all had to become trained divers and this training really helps drive the authenticity of the film. It would have probably been much cheaper to just bring in professional divers and use them as doubles. However, this would have put serious restrictions on camera angles and here Pogue is able to get right up close and personal.
Deep Blue Sea 3 is a thoroughly entertaining shark-centric action thriller, though the first hour plays better than the latter part. The film begins strongly with tension being built skilfully, and time is taken to get to known the characters and their hopes and fears. Towards the end though, the drama-action balance topples into full-on action territory, and it’s a specific type of action film that it’s channelling… those from the early nineties. There’s a moment where two of the more muscular and experienced characters face down. One has a gun, the other does not. Rather than take advantage of the upper hand, the firearm is discarded and the pair instead opt for a good old martial art smackdown. It comes out of nowhere, and in doing so is pretty jarring. Some of the narrative resolutions also become lost once the fighting begins, which is a shame given the hard work that went into setting them up.
The less said about Deep Blue Sea 2 the better, and thankfully Deep Blue Sea 3 manages to wash the taste of the first sequel out of your mouth and re-establish some of the sparkle that made the first one special.
Deep Blue Sea 3 is out on DVD from 24th August.
Deep Blue Sea 3
Summary
Though it has its flaws, Deep Blue Sea 3 manages to renew faith in the Deep Blue Sea franchise.
