Movies
[Review] Shark Attack Horror Movie ‘Great White’ Sinks Under Shallow Tropes
Sharks remain the most prevalent predator in aquatic horror, thanks largely thanks to Steven Spielberg’s Jaws. Unfortunately, the crowded subgenre means that it’s more challenging than ever to stand out among the sea of shark attack features. Enter Great White, the latest to pit humans against sharks. Instead of exploring uncharted waters, however, Great White sticks to the shallow end to collect tropes from just about every noteworthy entry of the subgenre.
Charlie (Aaron Jakubenko) and Kaz (Katrina Bowden) just booked a client for their seaplane tourism business. High-powered couple Joji (Tim Kano) and Michelle (Kimie Tsukakoshi) chartered the couple to bring them to a secluded beach, the site of a historical tragedy of which Michelle has personal ties. Along with Charlie and Kaz’s chef Benny (Te Kohe Tuhaka), the fivesome’s pleasant afternoon gets derailed when they stumble upon the decaying aftermath of a grisly shark attack. Instead of leaving it to the coast guard, the group investigates and winds up marooned at sea. The fivesome makes a desperate bid for land while stalked by a relentless predator.
Director Martin Wilson and screenwriter Michael Boughen spend early scenes attempting to build character relationships and conflict to engender rooting interest. Michelle’s familial ties to the chosen beach offer the most interesting plot point, a unique character choice compared to a litany of tired archetypes. Kaz gets saddled straight away with a character trope that designates her for higher odds of survival, and Benny is the comedic relief that can’t stop leering at Michelle. Joji’s short-fuse overshadows his ability to make the smart calls that go unheeded. None of these character arcs get developed in any meaningful way outside of designating the likely death order. It’s exacerbated by a lack of chemistry between two of the key players.
Nor can the human drama sustain the pacing between shark attacks. Large stretches of bickering, survival discussions, and human conflict occupy the bulk of the runtime, for better and worse. The VFX often looks rough and rudimentary, making the shark a presence better felt than seen in most instances. The inciting event that leaves the group stranded at sea is groan-worthy, and an overreliance on overhead shots of CG shark silhouettes loses its potency almost immediately. Great White saves its best effects for the climax, luckily, but it’s tough to care at that point. The bare-bones narrative makes some of the obvious questions about the shark’s random behavior all the more pronounced, too.
It also makes it easier to spot the borrowed influences from more prominent shark attack horror movies, from the Jaws-like opener to The Reef, 47 Meters Down, and even Deep Blue Sea. However, there’s nothing enhanced about the aquatic life’s intelligence here. Even for those new to shark horror, very few moments of shark peril build any tension. Every death gets staged the same way, unable to navigate budgetary restraints creatively. No genuine stakes or suspense, either. Despite the gorgeous scenery and Tsukakoshi and Bowden giving it their all, Great White makes for a relatively toothless affair.
Great White swims into theaters, VOD, and Digital on July 16.
Described as “Ted meets ET,” David Mikalson’s raunchy comedy Goblin is being brought to life over at A24, and Will Forte (“The Four Seasons”) is now in talks to star.
Deadline first reported the news this afternoon.
Kenneth Branagh has been cast to voice the titular Goblin in the upcoming A24 movie, with the character said to be “green-colored” as well as “anatomically correct.”
Skyler Gisondo (Superman) is reportedly playing the Goblin’s human best friend.
The mysterious project sounds a bit like films including A Gnome Named Gnorm and more recently, Frankie Freako, though it’s important to note that it’s not billed as a horror movie.
Deadline details, “After [Mikalson] hatched the idea to make an outrageous buddy comedy about a goblin, using a practical puppet and operating outside the Hollywood system, his script quickly got him a rep team. While others might have eyed the raunchy comedy as a writing sample or planned to wait to see the micro-budget version Mikalson has been directing in Kentucky, A24 jumped all over it. The hot indie essentially has agreed to finance a full feature.”
“There was a lot of interest, but A24 came with what Mikalson really wanted, after spending all his money crafting the puppet title character: they acquired the movie and agreed to let him make it with a significantly increased budget than what he had left after creating the anatomically correct title character,” Deadline’s report goes on to explain.
What does the titular Goblin actually look like? Well, a cake that Mikalson had whipped up for his reps might give us our first look at what to expect. Deadline explains the photo you’ll see down below, “Take a look at the cake he commissioned with Marc Gravelle at Cake Art in West Hollywood, to present to his reps as thanks for making his dream come true.”
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