Deep Blue Sea (1999)

I'm sure we all remember when Spielberg's Jaws made it impossible to get anywhere near the kid pool in the back yard. A couple decades later, Renny Harlin tried his luck at recreating that same fear with his own take in his science-fiction shark horror film. Maybe horror is a strong word seeing as how there are no moments that scare the audience out of their seats but perhaps most horrifying is the idea of casting LL Cool J as an experienced chef and preacher. Deep Blue Sea involves a group of scientific researchers genetically altering sharks to harvest sufficient brain protein to cure Alzheimer's disease. When a tropical storm ravages the underwater facility Aquatica, the sharks take the opportunity to flood the site and seek out the skeleton crew left inside. Sharks that think? I can suspend my disbelief to a certain point but giving primal creatures such as sharks the ability to rationalise and coordinate is a little much. Despite all this, the film generally works. The sharks become the most interesting feature of the movie and often leave you wanting the poorly developed cast, including Samuel L. Jackson, to meet their toothy fate. It can't be held anywhere near the praise of Jaws but Deep Blue Sea does everything it sets out to do. It entertains us for a couple hours and even makes us laugh unintentionally or not. Isn't that the point?