While on vacation partying, a group of friends decides to make things interesting by going swimming with sharks. Once on the boat, others board and things take a turn.
Written by Anthony Steven Giordano and directed by Jesse V. Johnson, Above & Below is a competent shark film that does not veer from the beaten path. For some shark film fans, this will be great as they know what to expect and love it. For others, it will feel a bit too familiar and won’t make them want to rush to get it on physical media (if physical media happens). In general, the story is written decently, but it lacks novelty, so while it’s entertaining, most folks will be able to predict what comes next and the ending. The direction here works with the script but given what we’ve seen from Johnson in the past, he can do much better. His touch is clearly seen when gun play and fights come on screen, but the film feels a bit generic.
The cast here is mostly as expected. Antonio Banderas is fun, the man has charisma on screen, so he can work it no matter what. Louis Mandylor comes off very Louis Mandylor; his performance feels similar to what we have seen from him a few times in recent years. Timothy V. Murphy is good here, shines a few times. The rest of cast feels interchangeable, none of them doing better than the others, the young men all come off a bit douchey or disinterested, giving nonchalance too much room at times and being a bit too extra at others, while not exactly standing out from one another. The leading ladies, the only two women in this story are basic and not particularly interesting either. They feel a bit shallow and also interchangeable. Out of the cast, it’s easy to see who will survive and who will not from a few minutes of their performances. Are they bad? No. Are they memorable? Also no.
The sharks, well, the sharks are not exactly all that menacing. They are there, they don’t feel like they really want to kill people, just rattle them a bit. They come off more pet sharks giving a show than scary ocean predators, and that is a sin in a film like this. Maybe there are too many shark films out there, but as it is, these sharks need a bit more bite.
The film does look good with cinematography by Maxime Alexandre, who makes the most of the beautiful locations and the ocean. His work makes the boat ride almost appealing. The editing by Matthew Lorentz works well with what is there, giving the viewer a chance to see what’s going on and keeping the pace moving fast enough.
Above & Below is a decent, albeit familiar, shark thriller with bad guys both in and out of the water to punch things up a bit. The story feels like it’s too familiar with a premise a bit too close to Into the Deep from last year. Still, the film delivers some goods and is easy to watch, so it’s a good fit for a fun Shark Week film night.