‘47 Meters’ lacks bite of original shark tale
In 2017, “47 Meters Down” was a sleeper surprise, a movie meant to go straight to DVD that became, against the odds, a classic thriller despite (or maybe because of) its downbeat ending.
A sequel, “47 Meters Down Uncaged,” arrives then with expectations. Can it match its predecessor?
The answer is emphatically: No.
“Uncaged,” a mix of fantasy and teenage wish fulfillment, begins in Yucatan, Mexico, with bullied Mia (Sophie Nelisse) climbing out of a swimming pool after being pushed by a really obnoxious Mean Girl.
At home, Mia’s mixedrace half-sister Sasha (Corrine Foxx, 25-year-old daughter of Jamie) tells mom (Nia Long), “It’s not my fault (she’s so unhappy). Nobody likes her.”
Their underwater archeologist dad (John Corbett) surprises his daughters with a glass bottom boat cruise where they can see great white sharks feed.
It only sounds sinister because when Sasha’s best friends Nicole (Sistine Rose Stallone, 21-year-old daughter of you-knowwho) and Alexa (Brianne Tju) show up at the dock with an alternative, top secret spot to go see, the touristy boat excursion is abandoned.
The four find a secret pristine pool in a vine-filled jungle that just happens to have a raft filled with dad’s expensive underwater scuba gear, air tanks and amazing head and face helmets that let them to talk to each other underwater.
As they “borrow” the equipment, they agree on a visit to the first cave in an underwater maze that’s part of a submerged ancient Mayan burial ground.
“Cave diving is dangerous,” warns Alexa. Unfortunately, that turns out to be horribly true as massive Mayan columns collapse and block their exit just as a blind great white goes hunting for snacks and their air supply gets dangerously low.
Besides a hungry shark, they are not alone — Dad is nearby along with his two assistants.
At this point, “Uncaged” begins to seem like an update on Agatha Christie’s “And Then There Were None” as, one by one, various scuba divers expire.
Dull dialogue, placidly paced, dimly seen underwater sequences and not enough shark action means “Uncaged” never generates nonstop tension.
Yet returning director (and co-writer) Johannes Roberts know his audience: His sharks dismember the cast with just enough gratuitous gore to keep us wanting more.