Well, from the sounds of things, it seems Renny Harlan has been doing a bit of tweaking here and there on DEEP BLUE SEA and might be helping it become a pretty enjoyable films. Hmmm... Can it match the glory of LAKE PLACID? Hmmmmm... I don't know, the writing was so sharp, the characters funny.... Hmmmm... We'll have to wait and see...
Long time reader, first time informer. Should you publish this, you can just call me "Goldie Lox" or "Goldie" for short.
Anyway, let's cut the bullshit and get right down to it. Last night I attended a special advance screening of "Deep Blue Sea" at the Beekman in NYC. I've been to these things before. They're fun, but nothing special. Sometimes you get lucky and see a cool movie, sometimes the movie sucks, often it's not even something you wanna see, right?
But this was different. This was the first "special advance screening" I've ever attended where Samuel L. Jackson and LL Cool J were sitting a few rows behind me and Renny Harlin got up to introduce the film. "Do you want to see a movie about sharks chasing people and eating them?" he asked the audience. "YYYYEEEEAAAAHHH!!!" everyone screamed back. "Good, because that's what we have for you." And so began the film.
It wasn't totally finished- Harlan told us that he'd just finished editing two days earlier, that the print had just been flown in that morning, and that the last scene was still being worked on- which showed when there was a shot of a shark eating a character and it was still in one of those CGI rough- composite shots where people look like manequins and the creature has no real detail. Other then that, the movie seemed pretty much done.
So, how was it? Let's be honest. There was no real story. it was a rip off of a lot of other movies- "Jaws" and "Jurassic Park" and "Poseidon Adventure" are the most noticeable, but if you ask me, there are also strong hinst of- of all things- "Alien Ressurection". the basic "plot" is that there's these scientists- Saffrom Burrows (who, I'm sure, Harlan cast because she's a dead ringer for his ex, Geena Davis), Michael Rappaport, Stellan Skarsgard, and some chick whose name I don't know, but was holding HArlan's hand so she must be his new squeeze- and they live in this cool underwater compound, using sharks as lab rats while the try to cure alzheimer's. They are joined by a shark- chaser- dude, played by Thomas Jane from "Boogie Nights", and a chef named "Preacher", played by LL Cool J. On this particular weekend, their ultra- rich backer, Sam Jackson, has come out to check their progress and shut them down if they fuck up.
Needless to say, the sharks are now smarter as a result of the tests, and everything goes wrong, and they start chasing people and eating them, and everyone has to try and get to the surface of this underwater place or die. So they set out to do that.
OK. So the story sucks. The special effects, well, they suck too. Remember how shitty the effects in "Escape from LA" were? These are, like, a half a step up. Everything looks fake.
Now, remember, a few years ago Harlan made a movie called "The Long Kiss Goodnight", which was a rip- off of various other movies and had shitty special effects. The movie bombed, but I loved it. Why? Because Harlan can direct good action sequences, the dialouge was hysterical, and the cast was cool.
These are the same strengths which save "Deep Blue Sea". The cast is cool- in fact, it's AWESOME. Except for Skarsgard, who totally wasted as he has about one line before he gets munched (he's the guy in the cming attractions who teh sharks push up against teh glass to break it), everypen is good. Burrows is hot.Jackson, more or less, plays the Gene Hackman type from "Poseidon", the "Let's grow some balls and get out of here" character. LL Cool J steals the whole movie- he's hysterical. And Thomas Jane, well, he pretty much plays Bruce Willis. But he does a damn fine job.
The violence is very over the top in a very funny way. No one simply gets eaten. They get gobbled in the worst ways imaginable. They get ripped in half, swallowed whole, dragged around... and yes, there is one genuinly shocking and horrifying scene. It would be a crime to ruin it because- and I'm not messing around- it;s so sudden and shocking that my heart started beating at about a million miles an hour and it didn't slow down for another five minutes. I mean, it is a GREAT scene. I wish there were more like it. But the others scenes, even if they're never as good, are pretty cool, and were usually done with enough sick wit to make the audience cheer with delight.
Which is worth mentioning- the audience LOVED it. I wouldn;t be surprised if this were a much bigger hit then people are anticipating (then again, I wouldn't be totally surprised if it bombed- like I said, "plot" isn't really the word for what this movie has, but who gives a shit about plot anyhow, right? I mean, we wanna see people get ripped to shreds!). I remember, though, what you said, Harry, about "Godzilla"- teh Emmerich one- how you saw it at the premier with a huge audience and all that, and I should say, having Jackson and LL and Harlan in the crowd, getting to walk by them and pat the em on teh back and tell them how cool the movie was, in addition to Warner Bros. giving us free popcorn and soda, helped my movie going experince a lot. And this is not, by any means, a classic- I'd still picks "Jaws" over this any day. But, like "The Long Kiss Goodnight", this is a very, very entertaining summer movie, and unless you have stick up your ass- and the professional critics, I'm sure, all do- I can't see anyone leaving teh theater and not saying "Gee, that was fun". I can't compare it "Lake Placid" as I haven't seen it yet, but I think it makes a good late summer monster movie.
On another note, I think it's worth mentioning that Harlan, Jackson, and LL all looked totally miserable after the show, even though everyone was telling them how much they liked it, and everyone cheered and screamed through the film. Personally, I patted Renny on the back- literally- and said "Good job, Mr. Harlan", to which he politly responded "Thank you", but he and LL and Sam just looked really... serious. Almost displeased. I couldn't understand it. I mean, I know Renny is having career troubles, and he just got divorced, but why Sam and LL? Maybe they smell a bomb...
Anyway, I hope this is of some use, Harry. Keep up the good work. Later.
-Goldie Lox
And here is The Dude's look, much more positive...
I just saw a preview screening for this movie in New York. Renny Harlin was there to introduce the movie ("who would like to see a movie about sharks chasing people and eating them?"), and LL Cool J and Thomas Jane were also watching. The movie went over quite well, in contrast to the reviews from the screening in Glendale earlier this month. People were cheering often, especially for LL Cool J. The script was still weak, and the set-up a little phony, but one major plot point has been altered, making the film more satisfying.
The theatre was packed, and the reaction was excellent, especially to LL Cool J's character, the station's chef who gets most of the best lines. Thomas Jane (as the facility's shark wrangler) and Saffron Burrows (the brilliant researcher - a terribly written character) are the other main roles - Stellan Skarsgard and Samuel Jackson are relegated to weak supporting roles, and Sam phoned it in. While some of the dialogue, especially during the set-up, was pretty stilted, and the situation reeked of "Jurassic Park" (and a million other movies), the film delivers quite a few scares and some great action. The CG and animatronic sharks are very realistic and move like nothing seen before.
One of the film's climactic shots was not quite finished, and looked like animation, but on the whole the effects were strong.
Of all the actors, Thomas Jane comes out as someone to watch.
"The Dude"
