47 Meters Down describes the fan score of this shark thriller

Movie Title:
  47 Meters Down  

Grade: C

Rating:   PG-13, 89 minutes

In a Nutshell: It’s pretty hard to beat Jaws.  While this movie’s sharp-toothed villains put on an impressive show, a lot of the lame dialogue prevents this thriller from really getting meaty. 

This film was going to go straight to video on demand, but it was finally decided that it would go to the Big Screen…if that tells you anything.

Uplifting theme: 

• Family, love
• Persistence, tenacity, never give up, hope
• Choices have consequences
• Think twice before deciding to go down into the deep, dark ocean with sharks!

My real life shark story: Have you ever seen a shark up close?  Years ago, I was snorkeling in St. Thomas by myself while my husband took a nap on the beach in the cove nearby.  (Tip: always snorkel with a partner.)  It’s easy to lose track of time and distance when you’re under the water chasing tropical fish.  I decided to lift my head up out of the water to see where I was and was shocked to see I was WAY far out in the ocean past the safety of the cove, so I quickly decided I needed to head back to the beach. 

When I put my face back in the water, I saw a SHARK swimming right towards me!!!!  I was terrified and actually thought I could outswim it, kicking as fast as I could toward the shore.  I knew any minute I would feel the vicious creature chomp down on my legs to eat me.  It was the scariest thing I had ever imagined would happen to me.  I was almost shocked when, after swimming like crazy for a couple of minutes, I couldn’t see the shark anymore.  I couldn’t believe it hadn’t attacked me yet.  I knew it was still just a matter of time before it would, so I continued to swim to shore like a crazy person.

Finally, I made it to the sand and ran directly to the surf shack where I screamed, “There’s a shark in the water!”  The staff was unimpressed and calmly asked me to point to the type of shark I saw on a sun-faded poster that hung on the wall.  I quickly scanned the images of all the ferocious sharks, pointing at the one I saw.  They laughed and said it was a nurse shark, apparently harmless.  I was relieved and embarrassed, but I vowed to never go that far out in the ocean by myself again.  The End.  True Story.

OK, back to the movie review:

Things I liked:

• When you start to notice your own breathing, you know the under-water scenes are engaging.  That DID happen a few times while I watched the movie.  I kept holding my breath under the water.  Suspenseful!  Well done!
• There is a good amount of tension.
• You learn about scuba diving, nitrogen narcosis, and getting “the bends.”
• The sharks look really great. 
• I wish I were on vacation right now.

Things I didn’t like:

• The character development was very weak and made the audience simply not care much about the sisters.  In fact, it seemed like the audience I sat with was hoping for someone to become shark bait.  It's the character development that had a lot to do with making Jaws such a successful film.
• There’s not that much the girls can do once they’re stuck in the bottom of the sea, besides cry and be scared.
• The acting was pretty bad.
• Lots of cliché’d jumps and scares.
• Super dumb dialogue.  Most of the lines include screaming and heavy breathing and sound like this: “We’re going to make it!  Just stay with me!”
• I was chatting with a girl who is an actual Captain of a ship in Tortola and I so I asked if she had seen this movie.  She said she lasted about 15 minutes and then had to walk out.  She was furious that humans would put themselves down in a cage as shark bait and then be furious when the sharks acted like animals.  Good point.

·       Sharks keep missing the girls, as if they haven’t learned how to aim for their prey after thousands of years of biology.

• It’s a true drama with no humor.
• This is the kind of movie that’s going to have a hard time being scary if it’s being watched on your little computer screen at home.
• The twist at the end was pretty lame.
• I liked The Shallows better.  At least it's not Sharknado.

Tips for parents: 

• There’s a lot of blood.
• Some of the sharks look pretty scary.
• Young kids may not want to go into the ocean after seeing this.
• Pre-teens and teens will probably like it, especially if they haven't seen better shark movies.
• Some spoken Spanish with no subtitles.

                                            

@trinaboice 

The 33 pays tribute to the Chilean miners

Movie Title:      The 33

Grade:   B

Rating:   PG-13, 2 hours

In a Nutshell:  Based on the true account of 33 Chilean miners who were trapped far below the surface of the earth, this feel-good movie shows the human spirit and the power of hope.

At the beginning of the film, we’re told that every year, 12,000 miners die from mining accidents.  This movie is a tribute to all miners, as well as The 33 who endured a horrifying ideal that captured the attention of the entire world in 2010.  If it happened today, everyone would be plastering the Chilean flag all over their Facebook profile pictures.  :)

Uplifting theme: 

• Faith & Hope.  "Super" Mario, played by Antonio Banderas leads the miners and constantly inspires them to remainful faithful and hopeful.  At one point when some of the men begin to falter, he tells them, "I believe it, because I choose to believe it."  The only other option is despair, right?  That doesn't do anyone any good, right?
• "Moving on!"  - Mario

Things I liked:

• Antonio Banderas.  Men want to be him and women want to swoon over him. 
• I loved being able to see the real miners at the end of the movie.
• There is some decent CGI during the big cave-in scenes.  When everything has collapsed, the screen goes black and the audience sits in still darkness for almost a minute.  Then, you hear a cough.  Then, you finally see one of the headlamps of the miners.  It's a powerful scene done well.
• It's refreshing to see a government official who truly cares. The handsome Rodrigo Santoro plays Laurence Golborne, the Minister of Mining in Chile. 
• There is a sweet scene that shows the miners praying for the safety of their families.  That touched me, because they kept their faith and they were more concerned about their families than themselves. 
• Smaller parts played by other actors included James Brolin, Lou Diamond Phillips, Bob Gunton, and Gabriel Byrne.  The cast is actually very international, including actors from Argentina, Spain, Ireland, America, France, Chile, and more!
• I remember watching this story on the news, so it was really interesting to see what was going on down in the mine when we were only seeing what was happening above.
• Juliette Binoche's character sells empanadas on the street.  I watched this movie on an airplane while flying home from a trip to Panama, where their empanadas are made with corn meal flour.  I hadn't had those before.  Juliette's empanadas were the more familiar kind made from regular flour.  They looked delicious.

Things I didn’t like:

• It’s really hard to create suspense and tension for an audience that already knows how the story ends.
• Casting Juliette Binoche as a Chilean street vendor was a very odd choice.  Jennifer Lopez was originally cast for that role, but had to leave the film because of scheduling conflicts with her role as a judge on American Idol Season 11 Highlights .
• There are a few cheesy, overly dramatic moments.
• One of the miners is married with a mistress on the side.  We see the women have a cat fight over him, among other bad behavior.  I'll never understand a cheating man.  Just as bad, I'll never understand a woman who tolerates it.  The story line is supposed to provide some comic relief to the movie, but it just disgusted me.
• There isn't as much character development as I would have liked.  We only get to know a few of the miners, while the rest remain mere faces in the crowd.

Funny lines:

• “If we're really hungry, we can always eat the Bolivian.  I hear they taste like chicken.”  - miner
• “Hatred is for children.” - Jose henriquez (Marco Trevino)
•  "Elvis is in the building!" - Yonni Barrios (Oscar Nunez) 

Interesting lines:

•  "This is why we are here.  I can taste it.  Cooper and gold." - Mario
• "That's a big rock!" - miner                                                           "That's not a rock.  that the heart of the mountain.  She finally broke." - Mario
• "It's not about us.  I believe we have a moral responsibility.  Thirty-three is a lot of people." - Laurence Golborn
• "We can pray together." - Jose                                                      "I don't know the words." - Dario                                                "God doesn't care." - Jose
• "Family is all we have." - Mario

Tips for parents:   

*   This is a family-friendly movie with no profanity.
*   Other than the initial collapse of the mine, there isn't a lot of action and so, young children may become bored.  

Unbroken spotlights the strength of the human spirit

 Movie:  Unbroken

PG-13, 2 hours 17 minutes

Grade:  B+

In a Nutshell:  This is an inspiring, true story that features the strength of the human spirit against all odds.  Director Angelina Jolie was so taken with Lauren Hillenbrand’s best-selling novel, that she felt compelled to bring it to the big screen.  The story is fascinating, but the viewing is exhausting and heart-wrenching.

Uplifting Theme:

·         The end of the movie reminds us that “the way forward is not revenge, but forgiveness.”  In fact, the movie leaves out 2 extremely important chapters of the book that reveal the challenges Louis Zamperini faced when he returned home.  Check out this inspiring video that tells the rest of the story.about the power of forgiveness.

·         “If you can take it, you can make it.” – Louis’ brother, Pete

Things I liked:

·         The main actors dieted for months to appear as their characters would have looked after surviving 47 harrowing days on a raft in the ocean.  They lost even more weight in the prisoner of war camps.  That’s dedicated acting.

·         The casting was very good.  Young Louis looked just like the older Louis.

·         The audience laughed when the starving soldiers on the raft punched a fish and a shark in order to eat them.  There were a few moments of subtle humor, but otherwise, this film is extremely sobering.  It should make you hesitate before complaining about anything again.

·         The cinematography of Roger Deakins (True Grit and Skyfall ) is very well done. Some of the vistas were extraordinary.

·         I always appreciate it at the end of a true story when the audience is shown how things ended up years later.

·         Jack O’Connell (Louis Zamperini) did an outstanding job.  Takamasa Ishihara was so believably cruel as Watanabe that the audience cringed every time he appeared on the screen.

Things I didn’t like:

·         The film is pretty long and your heart can’t take much more.  You feel like you’ve been punched in the gut, although your spirit soars with hope as you watch Louis stand up each time he falls. Angelina Jolie chooses to spend 2 hours focusing on how Louis was tortured in various ways and very little time showing us more about his character development.

·         I’m sad that the real Louis Zamperini died right before the movie came out.  What an amazing man he was.  I’m especially impressed that he returned to Japan to face his tormentors and forgive them.

·         As inspiring as the story is, there should have been more powerful and emotional moments in the telling.

Inspiring lines:

·         “A moment of pan is worth a lifetime of glory.” – Pete

·         “Here’s the plan…you go on living the best you can and try to have some fun along the way. – Phil

·         “We beat them by making it to the end of the war alive.” – Blackie

·         “It is necessary to have respect.  No respect, no order.” - Watanabe

·         “I’m glad it’s you. “ – Phil

“I’m glad it’s me too.” - Louis

Tips for Parents:  There are intense sequences of brutality and violence, as well as some charred bodies in one scene in particular.  There is some profanity, but not much, especially considering this is a war movie.  People used to call Italian immigrants WASPS and DAGOS.  After the movie, you can talk to your kids about bullying and name calling.

To learn more about the amazing life of Louis Zamerini, check out the following items: