The Reef
Review
by Anthony Morris
|
|
|
The Reef
|
In The Reef, four friends decide to take a boat trip in the waters off north Queensland, and already you know exactly where this is heading.
Welcome to Sharksville, population... well, it's a pretty safe bet not everyone's getting out of this alive.
So yes, The Reef
is yet another film where it's sharks versus people and the people come
off second best, but if you're in the least bit open to seeing yet
another movie about killer sharks you'll find a fair amount to enjoy
here. For starters, the characters are well sketched in the
brief moments they have before their boat capsizes and they decide to
swim for shore. It's enough to make you care, without
relying on the usual shortcuts that too often render characters in
these films unbelievable. The suspense is well-handled too,
slowly and carefully building without slipping into over-the-top
territory. Director Andrew Traucki (Black Water)
filmed this entirely on location using real sharks, which gives it a
realism a lot of shark films lack, and the actual shark attacks are
shockingly effective. All that said, The Reef
is still a film that's basically just four people swimming in the water
slowly being picked off by sharks - but on that level, it certainly
gets the job done. 3 out
of 5
The Reef
Australian release: 17th March,
2011
Official
Site: The Reef
Cast: Zoe Naylor, Damian Walsh-Howling, Gyton Grantley, Adrienne Pickerring, Keiran Darcy-Smith
Director: Andrew Traucki
|
