Above and Below bites into shark genre

Even when triple digit temperatures burn down on me, I never quite accept it as summer until I watch a new shark movie. These flicks inspire hope…not the right kind, but hope nonetheless. They turn me into a Wile E. Coyote of sorts, always hoping Road Runner will fall into his trap. Similarly, I never give up wondering if the next shark movie will imitate Jaws status as a great film. This summer, Above and Below swims into the scene and I chomp right into a viewing. It starts with a plus—Antonio Banderas in the cast. I always love listening to his voice and someday want to program my cell phone to talk like him. As expected, Antonio looks and sounds wonderful, even playing a bad guy. Though his role lets him do more than simply lend his name to the project, action focuses on a group of college friends who go on a shark cage adventure, not realizing their boat serves as a drug smuggling transfer point. Things go haywire (as they must for fin fair) and blood flows into the water. This happens after the captain needlessly reminds finheads that sharks top the list of apex predators and have a great sense of smell. Two college girls wearing skimpy bikinis (as they must in fin fair) learn such shark basics while their friends head into a cage. Elements of other projects like 47 Meters Down and Dangerous Animals ensue, featuring CGI effects and impressive underwater cinematography by Maxime Alexandre who previously made alligators creepy in the movie Crawl. Back on board, director Jesse V. Johnson works his camera decently in tight quarters, though actors must deal with dialogue by Anthony Steven Giordano, sometimes intentionally humorous though I giggled inappropriately when the heroine confronts bad Banderas with the accusation: “You murdered my friends, you injured my family, and you ruined my vacation.” So despite some chuckles and suspense in Above and Below, I still imitate Wile E. Coyote and remain full of doomed optimism, ready to keep chasing till I find my prey—a shark movie whose bite challenge Jaws.