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47 METERS DOWN: UNCAGED (2019)
Label: Lionsgate
Region Code: A
Rating: PG-13
Duration: 90 Minutes
Duration: 90 Minutes
Video: 1080P HD Widescreen (2.40:1)
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles
Director: Johannes Roberts
Cast: Sophie Nélisse, Corinne Foxx, Brianne Tju, Sistine Rose Stallone, Khylin Rhambo , Nia Long, Brec Bassinger, John Corbett
I was a fan of 47 Meters Down (2018) so I was keen to check this slice of sharksploitation survival horror from the director of Strangers Prey at Night (2017), and who also directed the first 47 Meters Down. We have a group of teenage girls, including Mia (Sophie Nélisse) and her stepsister Sasha (Corinne Foxx), plus friends Alexa (Brianne Tju) and Nicole (Sistine Stallone) being a bit naughty and sneaking off to a remote jungle lagoon location that hides a cool secret, beneath the surface lays an ancient submerged Mayan city that their archaeologist father Grant (John Corbett) has recently discovered.
Arriving at the location they borrow their dad's teams scuba gear, which was conveniently left there, and scuba down to the Mayan city which is tucked away in a labyrinth of subterranean caves. There are some cool visuals of the cave being explored revealing eerie ancient statues and a sacrificial altar, with the girls are unaware that the ancient ruins are also home to a species of sharks that have evolved in the closed-off cave ecosystem, they're albino and have blind white-eyes.
Obviously the film plays out with the girls being perused throughout the submerged cave by these blind toothy threats. The ancient submerged city offers up some cool-looking and claustrophobic environs for the film to happen in, definitely feeling a bit like an underwater variation on The Descent with a group of young woman exploring a claustrophobic cave system becoming prey to an blind and albino predator, with the ghostly looking sharks being the toothy phantoms haunting the ruins.
The albino sharks look very cool, they're eerie looking as they emerge from the depths of darkness into the light, swimming blindly through the ruins with their jaws hanging open in anticipation of their next meal. When they do find a bit of flesh to munch on they're viscous, with a few of the kinetic attack sequences catching me off guard in their short burst of ferocity. Sure, this thing is no Jaws but it is fun, even ore so when it gets a bit too ridiculous for it's own good.
Some of the more laughable stuff in this film would be that the shark seemingly screams/roars underwater in a few scenes, and then in the final sprint towards the finish line of the film goes completely off the rails beginning with some fast-moving underwater current that threatens to drags the girls to their death, and then there's a surprising chum-soaked final stretch that had be laughing the whole time with how over=the-top it went! That's not to say I didn't have a blast watching it though, I love these trashy contemporary b-movies the same way I adore the vintage exploitation of someone like a Bruno Mattei (Rats: Nights of Terror) or Claudio Fragasso (Zombie 4: After Death), these films are gonna be bat-shit to a degree, and that's what I want from them, they're not really scary, their silly and fun joyrides through a genre, and that's a good time at the movies my friend.
The young cast is alright, they do what needs to be done for this sort of film, featuring the kids of Sylvester Stallone (Cobra), Kim Bassinger (L.A. Confidential), and Jamie Foxx (Django Unchained) among them, with Sophie Nélisse doing most of the heavy lifting in the film as the awkward teen tuned bad-ass. Director Johannes Roberts gives the film some stylish direction and the score from Tomandandy (The Strangers) accentuates
some of the more tense and claustrophobic moments.
The young cast is alright, they do what needs to be done for this sort of film, featuring the kids of Sylvester Stallone (Cobra), Kim Bassinger (L.A. Confidential), and Jamie Foxx (Django Unchained) among them, with Sophie Nélisse doing most of the heavy lifting in the film as the awkward teen tuned bad-ass. Director Johannes Roberts gives the film some stylish direction and the score from Tomandandy (The Strangers) accentuates
some of the more tense and claustrophobic moments.
Audio/Video: 47 Meters Down: Uncaged (2019) arrives on Blu-ray+DVD+Digital from Lionsgate framed in 2.40:1 widescreen with English DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio. This 2-disc release comes with a slipcover with the same artwork as the wrap, plus a digital copy of the film.
Special Features:
- Audio Commentary with Writer-Director Johannes Roberts, Producer James Harris, and Writer Ernest Riera
- Diving Deeper: Uncaging 47 Meters Down
If you're looking for a fun slice of sharksploitation survival horror that delivers goods in terms of cheap underwater scares and ridiculous toothy predatory action 47 Meters Down: Uncaged (2019) fits the bill. It ain't no Jaws but I liked it a bit better that the first 47 Meters Down, if you're a die-hard connoisseur of sharksploitation films this might be a must-own, but for all others this is at least worth a rental.