47 Meters Down: Uncaged (Movie Review)

PLOT: A group of girls decide to take a chance and dive into a ruined underground city. Unfortunately for them, it’s inhabited by deadly sharks ready to chomp down on some tasty fleshy snacks.

REVIEW: In 2017, a little movie starring Mandy Moore, Claire Holt and a killer shark managed to become a surprise summer hit. 27 METERS DOWN was a enjoyable thriller about cage diving gone wrong. Filmmaker Johannes Roberts managed to do a whole lot with a limited budget, and frankly, there’s no surprise that we now have a sequel. And this time, the cast is bigger, the sharks are more ferocious, and as the title suggests… there are no cages. 27 METERS DOWN: UNCAGED attempts to inject the same energy into this low budget flick as it did the first time, and in many ways it succeeds. The actors are mostly solid and the effects are impressive enough to give the audience a good jolt or two. Yet is this a sequel that is worth making your way into the theatre? Well read on and decide for yourself.

UNCAGED centers on two girls who unhappily have become sisters thanks to their parents (John Corbett and Nia Long) getting married. Unfortunately for Mia (Sophie Nélisse), her not by choice sibling Sasha (Corinne Foxx) isn’t quite happy with the new family member. Things are even worse for her because she is constantly bullied by a girl named Catherine (Brec Bassinger) and her dad is always busy working on an old underwater city that has been discovered. Hoping to bring both Mia and Sasha together, he offers them the chance to take a glass bottom boat tour specializing in sharks. Things change when Sasha’s pals Alexa (Brianne Tju) and Nicole (Sistine Rose Stallone) decide to take a dive near the lost city where Mia’s father is working. And yes, it’s a terrible decision. Once down in the deep blue sea, the girls come face to face with a few deadly sharks.

Johannes Roberts manages to make the most with a low budget. With UNCAGED, the filmmaker has created a slightly claustrophobic little feature with a few genuinely intense sequences. Many may prefer the simple take of the original more, but the sequel does improve on some levels. While I wasn’t much of a fan of the final sequence the first time around, this one is a whole lot of fun – although ridiculously implausible. Without giving much away, if you make it to the end without hating this shark thriller, be sure to let any logic sink to the depths of your mind. The final confrontation is beyond ridiculous, yet it will likely give a theatre full of shark fans something to hoot and holler over. Or you’ll be rolling your eyes at the sheer audacity of it all.

Much like the first film, Roberts’ has gathered together an attractive cast, one that will give you a handful of folks to root for. As far as the main girls, Nélisse is a good choice for the innocent lead. Both Corinne Foxx (Jamie Foxx’s daughter) and Sistine Rose Stallone (yep, Sly’s little girl) add a bit of fun to the mix. Finally, Brianne Tju plays the “smartest” of the four, and she has a few terrific moments. That being said, it’s a bit hard to really connect with these characters in the beginning as they tend to make some incredibly stupid choices, and they certainly pay the price. Ironically, Ms. Basinger (who will be playing Stargirl in the upcoming series) manages to create a truly awful bully, so credit her with a good performance. However, her character is so cruel without any reason that you hope against hope that she’ll jump in the water and get eaten.

If you are going to truly enjoy this sharktastic sequel, you’d better let go of any sort of need for logic and sense. The dialogue can be a bit dopey, and the reason they are in the water is quite moronic, especially when dear old dad shares a shark tooth with his daughter early on. If you found a massive tooth close to where you are working, perhaps maybe you’ll find the animal that goes with it. If you can let all of that go and just enjoy the ride, there is certainly enough to appreciate. For a PG-13 flick, there are certainly a couple of jolts that will have the audience screaming out. And the sharks themselves are convincingly frightening as they hunt down the girls ready to take a big bite of human. The only real complaint when it comes to the attacks is that there are a couple of moments that are a bit too dark to really see what the hell is going on.

Ultimately, 47 METERS DOWN: UNCAGED is better than it should be. What could have easily been a VOD release is slightly more engaging due to Roberts energetic filmmaking, and occasionally a decent scare. The sharks are intense, and the actors are good enough to make you care a little. And then there is that final half hour. It’s almost laughable at how insane it all is, but frankly I enjoyed it more than I did the ending of the first film. Logic aside, this is an enjoyable but flawed sequel that is perhaps worth a look, especially for fans of animals attacking. However, unless you are really desperate to see this with a huge audience opening weekend, you may want to try for a bargain matinee.