Oh…. That trailer.
If you were to judge The Shallows solely on what is presented in THE SHALLOWS – Official Trailer #2 you could assume the film may just be an instant classic. A Shark-as-Monster movie to possibly mention in the same breathe as Jaws. All the footage presented looked imposing, injected with tight-tension. I was expecting to watch with my eyes closed as I am a Shark Wimp and could barely make it through Deep Blue Sea without soiling my Depends. [I may or may not wear man-diapers to these films….]
The trailer is a near-perfect piece of propaganda and is packed with so much imagery and narrative from the film in its 2:33 run time that it seemed impossible that there could be much more to the film. That’s because near everything is in the trailer and the only thing left to discover is if our Miss Lively lives or dies.
That’s not to say that The Shallows is not entertaining. It’s an efficient little film with plenty of jumps and squirms. Blake Lively does a solid job carrying the story and things steer away from the repetitive even though much of her performance is spent on a rock with a seagull.
It can be argued that there was far too much shown in the trailer but the real turnoff is the entire tone of the film turns from “fun nail-biting action” to “ludicrous silliness”. The final act morphs into a low-IQ affair, and it’s hard not to laugh at the CG shark instead of fearing it.
If you go along for the ride, you’ll be fine. If the shift jars you, you’ll be pulling for the shark to chomp down on our bikini-clad heroine and be done with it.