LL Cool J in "Deep Blue Sea."

MOVIE INFORMATION

With 10 as a must-see, Jack gives this film a: Stars: Samuel L. Jackson, LL Cool J, Saffron Burrows and Stellan Skarsgard Director: Renny Harlin Rated: R, with violence Length: 100 minutes

ROCHESTERCRITIQUE

Having seen this film, how would you rate it? 10 5 9 4 8 3 7 2 6 1

By Jack Garner
Democrat and Chronicle

(July 28, 1999) -- Sure, sharks are frightening. If they bump into you in the ocean, they'll bite you in half. But what if sharks also were smart? What if they had enough intelligence to hunt you down or outsmart you?

Deep Blue Sea isn't a thinking person's Jaws. It's too silly for that. However, it is a thinking shark's Jaws. And despite a whole raft of contrived nonsense, it's also scary, at least in a superficial, popcorn-spilling way.

The highly derivative script blends aspects of Alien and The Abyss with, of course, Jaws. Instead of spreading terror across the broad ocean, the action occurs in a floating medical lab.

In the lab, a staff harvests elements from sharks' brains that might be used to cure Alzheimer's disease. To increase the harvest, they've used DNA to enlarge the brains of the three sharks. The drawback: The sharks are getting smarter.

Saffron Burrows and Stellan Skarsgard play doctors in charge; and their obsession with making medical history makes them reckless. A marine biologist (Jacqueline McKenzie) and a "shark-herder" (Thomas Jane) are more skeptical -- and the first to recognize the dangers. Other staffers include a facility engineer (Michael Rapaport) and the resident cook (L.L. Cool J, whose good-humored style quickly makes him an audience favorite).

Events escalate when the researchers host a visitor -- a Trump-like billionaire (Samuel L. Jackson) who has funded their work. Simultaneously, the facility is also hit by a typhoon.

Thanks to digital technology, you see much more of the sharks than in the low-tech days of Jaws, though it's no improvement. The movements are sometimes too fast, and the size of the creatures isn't consistent. At one point, a shark looks the size of a dolphin; moments later it looks like a 747 fuselage.

But all that said, Deep Blue Sea still manages several scary moments. Director Renny Harlin doesn't telegraph at least two attacks -- they're spontaneous, unexpected and shocking.

So, for viewers who don't mind overly familiar bits, Deep Blue Sea is an effective summertime amusement, a roller-coaster of thrills, laughs and shocks that offers legitimate entertainment value, almost despite itself.