IMAGES

"At first glance, 'Deep Blue Sea' might look like just another dumb, pointless monster movie crawling from the depths to take a run at the mid-summer box office chart. However, while I won't argue that this creature feature is going to enrich the mind, the script is characterized by a certain flair and Renny Harlin's direction keeps things moving at a breakneck pace."    ...Film critic James Berardinelli

"If distinctly uneven CGI, minimal originality and overly convenient plot devices turn you off, this may not be your film."   ...Ron Wells, Film Threat

"'Deep Blue Sea' is full of these cartoonish, yet controlled outbursts of gooey, giddy violence, which it inflicts upon its very likeable cast: Michael Rapaport gets rammed into a control panel before being split in half. Stellan Skarsgård gets his arm ripped off, and is later scooped up into a shark’s mouth and thrown into a giant underground window."  ...Brian Raferty, Wired

"Whilst 'Deep Blue Sea' may never be classed as a classic in the same sense as Jaws, it is a very good attempt at a modern disaster movie come creature feature. Although the plot and dialogue can only be described as predictable, the combination of good special effects, good performances and great direction make up for this, saving it from being just another mediocre also ran."  ...The Movie Scene

"The sharks, especially when they're on the attack, look like nothing so much as plastic bath toys of a decidedly inferior quality desperately fighting against the swirling vortex created when the tub's plug is pulled. Which brings me to the really big problem. The sharks are super smart because the chief mad scientist, who like all female mad scientists wears a push-up bra, decided to make their brains bigger. Just what the world needs - really smart killing machines. Right there you know that the sharks are not up against what I would describe as worthy competitors."  ...Andrea Chase, Killer Movie Reviews

"The movie is a skillful thriller directed by Renny Harlin, who made 'Die Hard 2' and 'Cutthroat Island,'' and here assembles a neat package of terror, sharks and special effects. That isn't as easy as it sounds. After slogging through the predictability of countless would-be action thrillers, I admired the sheer professionalism of this one, which doesn't transcend its genre, but at least honors it." ...Film critic Roger Ebert

"It's nice to know that 'Jaws' can be secure in its place in the Pantheon of great shark movies. 'Deep Blue Sea' is a forgettable, water-logged shark thriller which attempts to be nothing more than that and delivers even less. The film starts out with little potential for character development and actually manages to underachieve."  ...Joe Lozito, bigpicturebigsound.com

"Imagine a cut-rate ''Titanic' ('Deep Blue Sea' is filled with scenes of flooding corridors) stripped of romance and historical resonance and fused with 'Jaws,' shorn of mythic symbolism and without complex characters, and you have the essence of this live-action horror comic."  ...Stephen Holden, NY Times

"You know how sometimes a single night can seem like a week?” asks a character in 'Deep Blue Sea'. You betcha, bud. It’s precisely the sensation you get while watching this soggy chomp-and-chew action thriller, which tries to prove, nearly a quarter century later ('Jaws") that sharks are still scary."   ...Leah Rozen, People

"'Deep Blue Sea' is an undeniable trash thriller... however, it`s an enjoyable one, largely because it seems to be very aware of its own silliness... and so does the audience... It`s full of cliches, the troupe is killed one by one... who will ultimately survive? Do we care? Well, not particularly but it`s quite a lot of fun along the way."   ...sbs.com.au

"'Deep Blue Sea' is indeed a triumph of Harlin's style over a lack of substance, but when the results are as exciting and exhilarating as this fast-paced thrill ride, any such complaint is moot. After all, what more can anyone ask from an unpretentious piece of pure action escapism?"   ...Michael Dequina, Cinema Review

"What 'Deep Blue Sea' is really all about is watching people get eaten. Harlin's about as subtle as a hammerhead, but he does understand about scaring people: He keeps the sharks generally off-camera so that we never know quite when they're going to strike. The end result is sort of a cross between 'Jaws' and 'The Poseidon Adventure.' As in the former, a bunch of people are beset by sharks with an attitude; as in the latter, a bunch of stock characters desperately try to save themselves from a watery grave by working their way to the surface."  ...Chris Kaltenbach, Baltimore Sun

"Conceptually, this movie may be waterlogged, but it knows its audience and knows what'll get them going – and even wondering. Who survives? Who doesn't? Is the company man treacherous? Who falls in love? And does the black guy always have to get killed early? These and other burning cliche-questions are tweaked and twisted, as the body count gets higher."   ...Desson Howe, Washington Post

"Between some truly terrifying performances, churning predictability and huge contrivance, much of the badness is just plain badness. You're never entirely sure whether you're laughing at or with 'Deep Blue Sea.'"  ...Ian Nathan, Empire