Shark Night (3D)

A Fin-Filled Weekend

Director: David R. Ellis

Writers: Will Hayes, Jesse Studenberg

Cast: Sara Paxton, Dustin Milligan, Chris Carmack, Katharine McPhee, Chris Zylka, Alyssa Diaz, Joel David Moore, Sinqua Walls, Donal Logue, Joshua Leonard

SYNOPSIS: College friends head into the Louisiana Gulf to weekend at one of the girl's family's island estates. Once there, freak shark attacks start picking off the vacationers one at a time.

REVIEW: David R. Ellis, former actor, stuntman and director of The Final Destination, Snakes on a Plane and Cellular, takes a script from relative newcomer scribes Will Hayes and Jesse Studenberg to take on a horror sub-genre that arguably has one of the best suspense water-related horror films ever created - Jaws! In the first scene alone, Ellis pays homage to Spielberg with his first shark attack on a young woman who thrashes back and forth before her final submersion like the bonfire girl from the original shark epic. From there, Shark Night (3D) is a mix of the classic late 70s and 80s splatterfests and Deep Blue Sea.

At the end of a hectic college semester, seven friends and acquaintances head to the family island estate of Sara's(Sara Paxton) in the middle of the Louisiana Gulf. Joining her are Nick (Dustin Milligan), the pre-med student with eyes for Sara, Beth (Katharine McPhee), Sara's friend, self-absorbed Blake (Chris Zylka), footballer Malik (Sinqua Walls), Malik's girlfriend Maya (Alyssa Diaz), and Nick's gamer geek friend Gordan (Joel David Moore). All great slasher flicks have an abundance of nubile young adults to be used for cannon fodder - or shark bait - and Shark Night is no different. Once the vacationers get to the island, they settle in and start enjoying the pool and the water. A water skiing accident that the group thinks is a propeller run over turns out to be a shark attack.As they try to stabilize their friend and get him back to the mainland for treatment, another shark attack claims another victim. Soon, the remaining members are confronted with staying on the island, trying to get back to the mainland by other methods, or trusting in strange locals that offer their help.

The 3D is rarely used to its potential. Sure, the bubbles trailing off underwater swimmers and the foreground kelp look great, but only once did any of the shark attacks catch me off guard. I would have seen the non-3D version if I could have, but the studio and theaters did not offer enough of those showings for me to get to. If you can find the non-3D version, opt for that version instead.

Of course, Shark Night (3D) is never going to come close to the original film that made many of a generation decide that swimming in the ocean was not for them. In fact, none of the news of shark attacks in the recent past have affected people like Jaws did. More akin to Deep Blue Sea than Jaws, Shark Night (3D) does make good use of the CGI technology for the sharks, holds itself to the standard of the typical spatter/slasher archetype, and provides a neat little twist as to why so many sharks managed to get into an environment that they typical don't sink their teeth into. Don't expect too much more than the genre normally provides and you will enjoy the sharkfest for what it is - a splashy fin-filled college co-ed buffet.

WORTH: Matinee or DVD

Charlie St. Cloud

Choppy Seas

[Zac Efron, Charlie Tahan, Amanda Crew, Donal Logue]

image from www.nola.com

RANT: A second movie on the weekend and a second chance to get to the theater on time. And a second time where I made it to a seat during the middle of the first trailer. I really need to get up earlier in the morning to get my errands done and to the movies in time. At least I received a coupon for a FREE small popcorn using my Regal Theater rewards card.

SYNOPSIS: Small town sailboat racing champion, Charlie St. Cloud, is overcome with grief when his younger brother is killed by a drunk driver while Charlie was behind the wheel. Giving up his scholarship to college for a job in a local cemetery, Charlie's promise and bond with his dead brother allows him to keep seeing him every day at dusk for a hour.

As Zac Efron tries to shed his "High School Musical" image, he has come under fire by the critics for his lack of talent, or for needing to go back to movies where he can sing and dance. Hearing about how his looks will only take him so far. Zac returns to the screen to follow up "17 Again" with the Ben Sherwood adaptation of "The Death of Life of Charlie St. Cloud".

Part "The Sixth Sense", part "The Lovely Bones", director Burr Steers re-teams with Zac Efron for a more serious spin. Zac is Charlie, a yachtsman with opportunities and prospects beyond the small shores of his hometown. When a drunk driver crashes into Charlie's car, killing his younger brother Sam, Charlie retreats from his life. Instead of pursuing a scholarship, Charlie settles for a job at the local cemetery. Even though his spirit for living is gone, he spends every day of the next 5 years meeting the ghost of his dead brother, keeping a promise on their last living day together that they would meet at dusk for one hour to practice baseball. Both once an high school acquaintance, Tess Carroll, return with goals to solo yacht around the world, it threatens Charlie's relationship with Sam and threatens to spark a want for living within Charlie.

Zac, Charlie Tahan who plays Sam, and Amanda Crew as Tess Carroll, all put in decent performances. Even Kim Basinger and Ray Liotta spend a day or two on site putting in work. Efron shows that he is expanding his acting range, but that range will be overshadowed by his looks and current movie cred for a little time more. But in this performance I saw a potential that will eventual outshine what has come before. Even George Clooney paid his dues on "The Facts of Life".

The story itself has a cool feel and a couple of twists and turns along the way. The third act is a little weaker than I would have liked, but its holds together long enough to get the job done. The story may have choppy and stormy seas, but there are moments of calm.

Worth: Matinee or Netflix

I am also trying out a new rating system shown below based on reader reaction to my somewhat complex monetary rating scale. I will give both ratings and see what kind of reaction I muster. A movie can receive up to 5 popcorn buckets. Why popcorn buckets? Because I am a slave to the thousand + calorie delight! Enjoy!