The Reef (aka Open Water 2)

Director: Andrew Traucki

Writer: Andrew Traucki, James M. Vernon

Cast: Damien Walshe-Howling (Luke), Gyton Grantley (Matt), Adrienne Pickering (Suzie), Zoe Naylor (Kate), Kieran Darcy-Smith (Warren) and Mark Simpson (Shane).

AKA: Shark Attack, Open Water.

Runtime: 94 Minutes.

Tagline: Pray that you drown first.

Review: A lot of hype was circulated about this eagerly awaited Shark Movie that was to put Steven Spielberg’s Jaws to shame, but instead only just surpassed the true story of “Open Water” film of 2003. The story rolled easily along with basic flow, with the lead character Damien Walshe-Howling (Luke) sailing a customer’s purchased boat to its destination through the Barrier Reef, while sharing the journey with three other friends (Matt, Suzie and Kate) who are just along for the ride; two from England and one from Australia.

The mishap of scuttling the boat against the coral appears to be “Just one of those things”, while the individualised characters who take on their script do it at a mediocre pace. In some cases the lead character appears to adlib his part, while making out to the viewer that he is savvy with the behaviour of their foe – a 15 foot Great White Shark – that from hereon in stalks its prey.

Throughout this film you will see Damien Walshe-Howling acting the “I’ll protect you”, while the end result is quite the opposite. The absence of real suspense is overshadowed by the other characters behaving in such ways that the actual writer of the book may well scowl at the amateurish acting.

Altogether, the film is enjoyable to watch in the company of a sweetheart or working Mum who have the nerves of a mouse. Personally, my night would have been better spent watching a real B-Movie with much less hype and even less awful acting. Examples that come to mind are Shark Attack, DinoCroc, Megalodon, enough said.

DVD Archive Rating: 5.0/10 (Probable 7.0/10 if there were better actors than the amateurs enlisted in this flick)

© Marcus De Storm 2011

Published on Wrytestuff.com 18/10/2011

The Reef (Official Trailer)