47 METERS DOWN – Rated PG-13 – 1 hr. 29mins.

47 METERS DOWN – Rated PG-13 – 1 hr. 29mins. 

Starring Mandy Moore, Claire Holt, and Matthew Modine

English Writer and Director Johannes Roberts takes us on a sisterly vaca, complete with warm waters, white sand and a questionable decision to view great whites REALLY close-up…this is 47 METERS DOWN!

Journeying to Mexico together, we meet Lisa (Mandy Moore) and younger sister Kate (Claire Holt), looking to find adventure, after Lisa’s present relationship implodes with her boyfriend Stuart.

When Kate encounters two super-hot guys, they suggest that both Lisa and Kate join them on a Great white shark viewing excursion, so they can ALL get an extreme, close up view!

Although totally apprehensive about this excursion ~ especially the shark cage part of it ~ Lisa finally agrees to join Kate and their new friends, in an attempt to convince he ex-boyfriend Stuart, she isn’t as dull as he thinks.

When their new friends seem to have the time of their lives seeing the sharks up close and personal, Kate and Lisa decide they too, have to venture down below the ocean surface to encounter these incredible creatures. Excitement and exhilaration quickly turns to panic and alarm, as the cage the girls are in breaks free of its hoist, sending these sisters to the bottom of the ocean…

As Lisa and Kate try to figure out what is the best strategy to get them both back to the surface ~ it seems that all the chum in the water now isn’t doing them any favors either ~ as the great whites are near and ready for mealtime. And to make things worse, it seems that the girls are running out of air at a fast pace too…leaving them with very few options for getting out of this situation ALIVE!!!

I give 47 METERS DOWN a rating of WAIT AND CATCH THIS FILM ON DVD OR NETFLIX: Thinking I was about to walk into a rather Jaws’esque film, I really wasn’t looking forward to being scared out of my skin. But luckily, as Shark movies go, this one is about as tame as it could get. Holt’s performance was acceptable, Modine’s short stint was too, and Moore attempts to give a fabulous one, but her constant whiney and squeaking emotional responses throughout the entire film, about sent me off the deep end! I so love her on THIS IS US, and wanted to truly enjoy her performance here too, as I could have never spent as many hours as she did under water filming this e film, but this subpar performance didn’t manage to evoke an emotional response from me at all. The only positive for me throughout this film, and its storyline, came almost at the end, as Roberts provides a plot twist I totally didn’t see coming, but even this ~ slight glimmer in the midst of darkness ~ didn’t manage to change my mind, or my rating…

Kathy Kaiser