The Reef (2010)

[GL]

Getting stranded in a remote section of water while on a cruise, a group of friends find their journey to sanctuary interrupted by a large rogue shark intent on stalking and eating them one-by-one and must try to get to safety before they all fall victim to the shark.

What did everyone think of this one?

[Jen]

This was a disappointment to me, because I thought the potential was there. It had moments of suspense that were really well done and the scenery is beautiful. But mostly I was just bored or annoyed.

[GL]

I was, too, and I found two major problems with that. The main one was that they get into the water to swim for safety pretty late into the proceedings, which being the main genesis for the film, takes place over a half-hour into it, way too long to get to the meat of the film. Then, the fact that the rest of the film almost exclusively consists of the guy looking into the water and seeing what almost amounts to an undersea documentary about blue water, and I found that boring as it was repeated so ad-nauseam it just grew tiresome and irritating.

[The Walking Dude]

I bought this a few months back,but I'm waiting for a hot summer day so I can imagine I was in the cool refreshing ocean.

That said I was big fan of the creators previous effort Black Water,so I am looking forward to it.

[The Walking Dude]

Can't believe I forgot to vote

I gave it a 3.Pretty intense,I was able to believe I was out there on the water with them,which is a good sign.

Probably the biggest downfall is that I keep comparing it to Black Water,which I think comes from the fact that it was from the same creative team.

[Clathian Salvator]

Ill stick with Jaws

[GL]

Jul 5, 2012 6:30:42 GMT -5 The Walking Dude said:

Can't believe I forgot to vote

I gave it a 3.Pretty intense,I was able to believe I was out there on the water with them,which is a good sign.

Probably the biggest downfall is that I keep comparing it to Black Water,which I think comes from the fact that it was from the same creative team.

The biggest downfall is that the film spends 90% of the time looking through goggles and not having the shark munching down on anyone.

[stinger]

I liked this movie and thought the leading man was really likeable. Sometimes less is more. The only thing that bugs me about this movie is the guy that stayed at the boat. If you look on back of the DVD he is clearly swimming away from the boat in fear. Did he have a different death scene but they decided to cut it from the film? We will never know.

[The Walking Dude]

Jul 5, 2012 10:25:59 GMT -5 GL said:

The biggest downfall is that the film spends 90% of the time looking through goggles and not having the shark munching down on anyone.

I think they call that generating suspense GL . It worked on me. They very much employed the Hitchcock rule here. In other words,you know the shark is coming for you but when? In the meantime you're shuddering at every tiny bit of seaweed or other marine life.

That said though for me the single greatest death in a shark film was

SPOILER: Click to show

Samuel L Jackson in Deep Blue Sea. Had me jumping right out of my seat at the cinema

[CT]

SPOILER: Click to show

That dude sure knows how to die in style in a lot of films.

[GL]

Jul 5, 2012 17:29:28 GMT -5 The Walking Dude said:

Jul 5, 2012 10:25:59 GMT -5 GL said:

The biggest downfall is that the film spends 90% of the time looking through goggles and not having the shark munching down on anyone.

I think they call that generating suspense GL . It worked on me. They very much employed the Hitchcock rule here. In other words,you know the shark is coming for you but when? In the meantime you're shuddering at every tiny bit of seaweed or other marine life.

But if they were going for that route, it fails miserably because it's just one tactic repeated over and over again. There's no change at all over time in going for any differences in generating that, and after the fifth time they show any extended sequence of a guy looking under the sea through the goggles, I was just fed up with the tactic and got bored and irritated with the film.

I don't know if I've mentioned this, but I don't really watch films in one continuous setting (only the Sci-Fi Channel originals are done this way), I watch them in five minute intervals during the commercials while I watch TV. That's been my pattern for years now so I need to stay interested in what's going on and repeating the same thing as often as this does with the same tactic as this one doesn't generate suspense after it's been done for the last twenty minutes, it gets old and irritating.