Deep Blue Sea (1999)

Directed by Renny Harlin
Written by Duncan Kennedy, Donna Powers & Wayne Powers
Starring Thomas Jane, Saffron Burrows, LL Cool J, Michael Rapaport, Samuel L. Jackson

My Advice: Wait and Rent It.

Dr. McAlester (Burrows) heads up the research team at the Aquatica facility, which sits out in the Pacific, as if it were waiting for Kevin Costner to sail along.  When the facility comes under scrutiny for their experiments, the main financial backer (Jackson) is convinced he should check out his investment before he pulls the plug.  Once there, he learns they've been messing around with mako sharks, trying to give the creatures bigger brains in order to harvest what the scientists hope will cure Alzheimer's.  As you can imagine--bigger brains equals meaner fishies, so bottom line: start swimming now.   

This film was not what it could have or should have been, but it sure could have been a lot worse.  What it has going for it is a nice cast.  Thomas Jane does the buff shark wrangler bit, LL Cool J is quite effective as the cook/comic relief, and Jackson is good as always no matter what else is going on around him.  The action sequences are intense and brutal.  The sharks do move incredibly fast and they do lots of damage in very little time.  Also, the film is smart enough to take some well-worn cliches of the monster movie and yank them out from under you just when you're feeling complacent.

However--Trevor Rabin's musical score is a bit on the bombastic side, and it's distracting.  There are some large problems with the storyline and just some holes in logic that don't make sense.  A character risks life and limb to save research data...that is perfectly safe inside a plastic baggie that appears to be waterproof.  Above detractors such as that, you'll also jerk at the really ham-handed delivery of the film's title in the dialogue.  Another issue comes from the other side of a positive item listed above--they take one large "isn't this neat how we're turning what you expect on its ear?" bit a little too far with one character in particular.  You'll recognize the person in question when he/she does his thing--it's pretty obvious. 

What it boils down to is that the film does some things right, but it does an equal amount of things wrong.  It's a shame, because every time the film would be ready to bust out and become something wonderful, a flaw in the script or the direction would bring it right back down.  Oh well, rent it in widescreen to see the cool shark effects, but leave it alone at the cinema.