I always look forward to shark movies, hoping that eventually one will rival Jaws (my second favorite movie of all time).  None have come close.  The Shallows seemed to have potential, but it falls short in terms of delivering real scares and believable suspense.  On the other hand, it features lovely Blake Lively in a bikini, so it is certainly worth watching.

Jaume Collet-Serra’s film is very predictable once the premise is established and, sadly, telegraphs most of its developments just before they occur.  Its villain is a great white shark which acts like a clone of the Jaws shark, hunting surfer Nancy (Lively) with an almost personal instinct.  Or maybe it just has great taste in women.  The only original aspect of the story takes place at the climax, as Nancy devises a clever, unexpected manner of survival against this natural predator.

That is not to say the film is without merit.  The surfing scenes are cool, including one shot where the shark can be seen underwater, following a surfer riding a wave.  Much of Nancy’s plight takes place on a rock above the tide line, where she and a wounded seagull ponder their destinies in dramatic closeup.  The seagull provides Nancy with a foil, much like Wilson did for Tom Hanks in Cast Away.  Nancy’s injuries after being bitten are quite convincing, and she is resourceful enough to nurse herself and believably work toward survival.  The climax is, as I noted, surprising, although I’m still not exactly sure how she pulls it off.

But other aspects are less effective.  Nancy never seems terrified, as she should be while being hunted by a great white shark.  The shark itself is problematic; it remains hidden before its first attack, then swims around on the surface most of the time later so she can track it.  It speeds up a couple of times rather unbelievably and then is obviously CGI during the final sequence.  The shark in Jaws is obviously fake, but it still moves in a believable fashion; this one sometimes does not.  I wanted to see more of it earlier in the film, and then when it comes on strong at the end, it is disappointingly phony.  The Shallows boasts a pretty strong script (although I could do without its way of illustrating text messages on screen), but its special effects are not particularly special.  Nice try, though.  ☆ ☆ 1/2.  7 July 2016.