THE SHALLOWS

Directed by: Jaume Collet-Serra

Starring by: Blake Lively, Oscar Jaenada, Brett Cullen, Sedona Legge, Jose Manuel Trujillo Salas

Production: Columbia Pictures

“It’s not just another day at the beach...” said the tagline, and I bought the ticket with the same wishes, “Hope it’s not just another movie at the theatre…”

As you know, when I write my article, “Hindari Yuk Bikin film Horor Cupu” (Tips to Avoid Stereotypes In Horror Movie) surely hard for me not to get trapped with my own critics because I've done my own sin when I wrote my own screen-script or novel. There are apparently sinful trail of stereotype as mention on this article. 

So I think that’s bid curse of mine when I work on one, or when I entered the theater…believes it or not I’ve been follow with many doubt if the movie goes as not good as I expected…

Most of the audiences are male. I don’t know why…is that because they’re already take a peek on other reviews that said you will see the scene when Blake Lively change her clothes and she wear only two piece there? 

Well, I don’t know for sure but I don’t come to watch movie only to see saw such thing from a horror. Though I admit that she had great shape and long legs but I enjoy more of the image when she and two surfers that she’d just met doing surfing on that beach.

When she get down the stream to skip the wave, or when she floating upward, and moving cross line above or inside the wave…the natural beauty of bluish ocean along with the athletic move and body of Nancy…and all of that taking in perfect rhythm…major in slow motion picture…which I knew it took high technique to make it…and synchronizing the music and act…the music blurred when the surfer drown in the water and went wild again when they’re up the wave.

The funny thing was the wave flow goes according to the surfer. When Nancy had been talking to her sister and daddy, you can see there’s no wave at all but when she went back to the ocean it raised again. Other thing, later when she caught on that small-stand-alone island there’s no wave shown up like day one. But if we take aside that, I do love the surfing scene…

The conversation revealed her mother’s death which caused Nancy to consider dropping out of medical school. That’s not a comfortable conversation after all and brings up the emotional for Nancy, so that’s why she decided to catch one more wave in the late afternoon before heading back to hotel. Very clever choice to make her alone, more over the fact that it was a secluded ocean, so there aren’t many people knew the place…the smart establishment to make your character had to deal with the shark on herself…

While she waiting for a wave, she notices a large humpback whale carcass that’s been floating not far. She didn’t realize at the beginning that she was on the eating circle of the predator that killed the whale but she found out about it when the great white shark bumped her surf board and bite her thigh and pull her under.

Well, I’m not sure shark could bump people like that, why the big fish had to bump her while it had the chance to attack her the way it attacks the first local surfer on day two…but that scene was super creepy for the audience…realizing there’s a shadow of a killer inside the last wave…and surely bite her bad like shark could do. Make her struggled hardly to survive from the bite by climbing up the carcass and move to the isolate reef.

The two local surfers didn’t realize what happened to her and left her there.  She had to stay a night there with only a seagull and injured legs. I assured you, that was kind of situation where you saw a girl with two piece without getting arouse, especially when you saw the blood came out from her tore leg and when she stitched the wound.  Somehow, it explained why she wore those odd shape earrings

Man, I can feel her pain each time the stitch went on…that was truly...truly…horrified…and when she yelling because the stream washed her wounded legs…man I’d been on that situation when I was kid long years ago. I lived in Cilacap when I was seven, and I went fishing with my cousin when he visited me. Focusing on a bait fish, I’m not aware of a fishhook lies on a bridge floor, and I stepped on it with my bare foot. At the same time the wave splashed under the bridge and I’ll be damned if I just smiled to such pain…

The horror did well…at that time, I took a glance at the couple next to me and there they are…holding each other in eerie on that stitch scene…I mean, not everybody seen ghost literally but we all know how painful our body was when we had injured.     

 For me it’s not logical when Nancy attacked by the shark again and again later. I don’t get a reason why the shark hunt her like mad, it seemed like the shark was taking it personally. The first attack may be for real because she was on the eating circle of the shark when she's looking at the whale nearly, but what about after that?

Does that because the shark wanted to eat her? Get real pal, whale carcass is way much bigger than her and surely had much meat to take than a small skinny Nancy…why bother? But again, the writer could make any situation to drag you to a perfect combat of big shark versus human...and it works…

This movie make different approach than The Jaws, first film using shark attacked as horror elements, because there’s no scientist nor police with big guns who could help the main character. It’s only Nancy Adam with her knowledge as a doctor to prevent the wounded legs and her life…you had to survive alone though I’m not sure it will be such dramatic because human seemed not able to make it after 11 hours – 5 hours until the flux and 6 hours to the tide, according to her watch – with that wound in reality.

The shark move look so natural and you can’t tell the different whether it’s real fish or just effect…and it also looks so natural at the last scenes when the fish met the ends in a way that I'm sure never came up to your thought.

As for Blake Lively, I do loved her act since her role on The Age of Adaline, she’d done well performing an old lady that can't be aging with a little aristocrat behave which looks grace for her. My thumbs up because she could play as an old character, which far from her real age at that moment, especially when she treat the older artist as her daughter perfectly…she’s fantastic...

In this movie, she faced different challenge, which no doubt that she's on the same level as Tom Hanks who performed very well in solo cast that dominating throughout the whole duration of Cast Away. 

And you wouldn't see other role than Nancy, and the shark of course, from the beginning till the movie ends. One more thing, I bet you will laughed to hear the name she gave to the seagull...

It doesn't have to be a mutant or odd creature to scares us, just an ordinary sea predators that gone mad because of its injuries and you will learn how there's hope, no matter how hopeless the situation are, but if you stand up and fight you can faced the giant...

So, better be stand up and share these to your friend, asked them to watch it...let see how Nancy Adam relights your flame...