47 Meters Down: Uncaged is a sequel to the 2017 surprise hit which I more or less enjoyed, but this one was really trying as all of these main characters were the ones who put themselves in the predicament, although perhaps that is the most realistic aspect.
47 Meters Down: Uncaged
(2019)
Genre(s): Adventure, Horror, Thriller
Lionsgate | PG13 –90 min. – $29.99 | November 12, 2019
Date Published: 11/07/2019 | Author: The Movieman
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Lionsgate provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post.
The opinions I share are my own.
THE MOVIE — 2.0/5 |
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Plot Synopsis: Four teenage divers — Mia (SOPHIE NELISSE), Sasha (CORINNE FOXX), Alexa (BRIANNE TJU) and Nicole (SISTINE STALLONE) — discover that the sunken ruins of a Mayan city are also a hunting ground for deadly great white sharks. With their air supply steadily dwindling, the frightened girls must navigate the underwater labyrinth of claustrophobic caves and eerie tunnels in search of a way out of their watery hell. Review: 2017’s 47 Meters Down was a surprise box office hit taking in $62.6 million worldwide, despite it been released (before being purchased by another company) on DVD (under the title, In the Deep). So, with the low budget and respectable home video sales, a sequel was a no-brainer. And no-brainer really is the best way to describe 47 Meters Down: Uncaged, a film that features some really stupid characters (even by teenager standards) getting themselves into a predicament of their own doing (unlike the first which was, from memory, due to a mechanical issue). Here, one character gets startled by a fish, lunges back and knocks over a column which sets off a chain reaction that eventually gets them blocked in. From there, I did have a difficult time not to shake my head at their inanity. The acting from a mostly young and unknown cast, two of which are children with famous fathers, weren’t very good, of course the half-baked dialogue was at time pretty cringy that I can’t blame them for some poor line-reading, especially when they’re supposed to pretend great white sharks are hunting them down. But not many watch these survival-horror-thrillers for any sort of thespian acting, as the first film and attest to, yet even the thin plot and thriller aspects was a succession of horror tropes, like the music/sounds dying down before *insert threat* happens to jolt the audience. Johannes Roberts returns to direct (as well co-script) 47 Meters Down: Uncaged and seems to be an adequate enough filmmaker and is able to produce some thrills, however much like most of the modern horror, does employ the same tropes (music dies down – SHARK ATTACK!) and does the minimal amount of character development that doesn’t really amount to much. |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 2.5/5 |
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This release comes with a semi-glossy slip cover and redemption code for the Digital HD copy. Not much in terms of features, there is an Audio Commentary with Co-Writer/Executive Producer/Director Johannes Roberts, Producer James Harris and Co-Writer Ernest Riera and Diving Deeper: Uncaging 47 Meters Down (12:30) making-of behind the scenes featurette with interviews by members of the cast and crew discussing this follow-up. |
VIDEO – 4.25/5 |
| Lionsgate goes 47 Meters Down: Uncaged onto Blu-ray presented with a 2.40 widescreen aspect ratio and given a 1080p high-definition transfer. The beginning of the movie does show off bright, cheerful colors in the Mexican setting (well, technically Dominican Republic) before going underwater where things get, quite literally, murky. Detail still wasn’t half bad in the darker setting. I did notice some minor banding but it’s an otherwise above average transfer. |
AUDIO – 4.5/5 |
| The disc comes with a strong DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track with good directional dialogue levels as the girls chat with one another underwater and some effective depth with each shark attack, alongside the music composed by Tomandandy. This is probably a movie that could’ve made the most out of an Atmos track. |
OVERALL – 2.25/5 |
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47 Meters Down: Uncaged is a sequel to the 2017 surprise hit which I more or less enjoyed, but this one was really trying as all of these main characters were the ones who put themselves in the predicament, although perhaps that is the most realistic aspect. In any case, there were too many tropes and a thin plot with thinner character development that this is, at best, a rental. The Blu-ray release by Lionsgate offers up good video/audio transfers and a slim set of features. |