24 / 109
I
magine if Chrissie from
Jaws
hadn't
been eaten in the opening scene and
had instead climbed onto the nearby
buoy and done whatever it took to survive.
That pretty much sums up what to
expect from
The Shallows
, in which Blake
Lively wages a one-woman war against
a Great White shark after she's chomped
whilst surfing off a secluded beach in
Mexico (in reality Lord Howe Island).
Attacked only a few hundred yards
from the shore, Mrs. Ryan Reynolds finds
herself in a dead pool – a whale carcass
in the vicinity means the shark won't be
leaving anytime soon, and with high tide
approaching, the rocky sanctuary she's
managed to reach will soon be underwater.
The possibility of a rescue is quickly
dashed when a pair of fellow surfers are
taken by the shark, leaving her stranded
with only a wounded seagull for company
(which becomes a supporting character of
sorts).
Most of us would be in full panic mode
by now, but Lively is a resourceful type,
using her med school skills and earrings
to seal the bite wound, and fashioning a
pressure bandage from her wetsuit. She
also times the circling shark to estimate the
right moment to swim for her life.
How she manages to stay beyond the
reach of this hungry predator makes for a
simple and efficient survival thriller that's
slickly shot, including some pop-up graphics
for Face Time and to indicate that the
clock is ticking. There's also a creepy swim
through a school of stinging jellyfish, and
the CGI shark is mostly convincing.
Some of it is implausible, particularly the
climax, but the film works so effectively,
you'll quickly forgive the odd lapse in logic.
Just sit back, enjoy the ride, and be
thankful this isn't happening to you.
Decent shark movies are a rarity
these days, and
The Shallows
reminds us that a Great White can
still be scary in a post-
Sharknado
world.
Scott Hocking
FURTHER VIEWING:
Open Water
RELEASED:
Sept 1
DIRECTOR:
Jean-François
Richet
CAST:
Mel Gibson, Erin Moriarty,
Diego Luna
RATING:
MA15+
Mel Gibson’s role in
Blood Father
may be the
perfect response to the image that the actor
cultivated as a result of his very public and
personal outbursts in recent years. Jean-
François Richet’s film doesn’t disregard Old
Man Gibson – it panders to him. Actors may
not be the characters they play, but it would
be too simple an evaluation to suggest that
there isn’t an element of the reverse. Gibson
is John Link, a worn out tattoo artist doing his
utmost to avoid breaching his sobriety and his
parole. To imagine that Link is a warped avenue
of penance and rehabilitation for Gibson isn’t
much of a stretch. His estranged daughter, Lydia
(Erin Moriarty) arrives at his trailer out of the
blue. She has accidently shot her drug-kingpin
boyfriend, Jonah (Diego Luna), and is on the run
from the cops and the cartel. Link and Lydia hit
the road in a decaying Chevy Nova that would
have done Max Rockatansky proud, and embark
on a journey of revenge and redemption. Richet
elevates material that might have otherwise
smacked too much of post-
Taken
exploitation.
The film is a Western with cars instead of
horses, and bikers instead of cowboys.
Blood
Father
is trash, albeit enormously satisfying
trash. It’s also a reminder of what a captivating
screen presence Gibson can be, personal woes
be damned.
John Roebuck
BLOOD FATHER
Sausage Party
is an interesting movie, in that
it probably shouldn’t exist. So rude, crude,
politically incorrect and ridiculously funny
(if you’re into that kind of thing), the film is
the perfect Seth Rogen project; a wretched,
disgustingly dirty – and by no means limp
– comedy. Of course Rogen headlines the
voice talent in this animated bratwurst fest,
portraying Frank, the sausage on the hunt for
the bun of his dreams, Brenda (Kristen Wiig).
The pair is searching for the “Great Beyond”,
a supposed promised land that grants all food
an escape from their miserable residency at
the local supermarket. However, all may not be
as it seems, as “the imperishables” (lead by
Bill Hader) propose that the Great Beyond isn’t
all it’s cracked up to be. Up against the stiff
competition of
Bad Neighbours
and
This Is the
End
, it’ll be hard to miss the point of this cheesy
laugh-fest. The best way to get the most out of
Sausage Party
is to accept it for what it is –
Toy
Story
for adults. Food comes to life, boys take
bath salts in the comfort of their lounge rooms,
and there’s a Pepper with quite the impressive
military rank. You even get a few songs thrown
in to add to the cacophonous chaos. If you’re
hungry for a bad taste comedy, you’ll want a
pizza this one.
Alesha Kolbe
SAUSAGE PARTY
RELEASED:
Now Showing
DIRECTOR:
Greg
Tiernan, Conrad Vernon
CAST:
Seth Rogen,
Kristen Wiig, Jonah Hill
RATING:
MA15+
Woman vs. maneater.
THE SHALLOWS
RELEASED:
Now Showing
DIRECTOR:
Jaume Collet-Serra
CAST:
Blake Lively, Óscar
Jaenada, Angelo Jose
RATING:
M
visit
stack.net.au24
jbhifi.com.auSEPTEMBER
2016
CINEMA
REVIEWS
RATING KEY:
Wow!
Good
Not bad
Meh Woof!
