Despite Jaws now being nearly 50 years old, we still get numerous shark movies each year. None of them can match up to Spielberg’s classic, but that does not mean that there is not fun to be had. This week, I have dipped my toes into the water again with three films released this year.
Under Paris
Paris is hosting the World Triathlon Championships for the first time and those are seen as a trial run for the upcoming Olympics. Scientist Sophia (Bérénice Bejo) learns from environmental activist Mika (Léa Léviant) that the large shark who previously killed her crew on an expedition, is swimming deep in the Seine. To avoid a bloodbath at the heart of the city, she join forces with Adil (Nassim Lyes), the river police commander. The usual criticisms can be made with Under Paris with dubious CGI, and clever people making bad choices. However, it is a superior example of the genre with an original plot and a couple of outstanding sequences – one in the catacombs and one when the race gets under way. It also has a mayor desperate to hush things up and keep the city open! Bejo and Léviant are particularly good too.
Under Paris is on Netflix
Rating: 7.5 out of 10
On The Up
A passenger jet travelling from Los Angeles is subject to a bird strike. The engines fail and it plunges into the Pacific Ocean. The stricken airliner comes to rest perilously close to the edge of a bottomless ravine with the six surviving passengers and one surviving crew member trapped in an air pocket. Although help is on the way, they have little time before being completely under water and, to make things worse, sharks are circling them. Claudio Fäh’s film, from a script by Andy Mayson, is clearly influenced by two of my favourites 1970’s disaster movies, Airport ’77 and The Poseidon Adventure. The story is preposterous – the plane has a gaping hole in its side and is completely submerged but the motley group still find an air pocket – but it is silly fun. It also boasts both Colm Meaney and Phyllis Logan in the cast who both seem to enjoy slumming it. The sharks play a minor role though.
No Way Up is on Amazon Prime
Rating: 6.5 out of 10
The Last Breath
A group of old college friends reunite on a Caribbean scuba diving trip exploring the wreckage of a WWII battleship and find themselves trapped inside the underwater labyrinth of rusted metal surrounded by great white sharks. This is most notable for being Julian Sands final film, though he only has a small role as a grizzled old guy who can no longer dive, so once the action moves underwater he disappears. I guess the scenario makes Joachim Heden’s movie the most realistic of the three but it is also the least fun. There is some tension but I did not connect with the characters, mostly seen behind masks and breathing equipment.
The Last Breath is on Paramount Plus
Rating: 5.5 out of 10