Is it summer already? The shark movies are already out. Pilot Rick (Ben Kingsley) and Ben (Aaron Eckhart) are piloting Northeastern airlines flight from LA to Shanghai when a fire breaks out in cargo and damages the fuselage thus depressurizing the cabin and losing both engines. They crash land in the Pacific Ocean, and the closest airport is in Guam. Then things get bad. There are sharks. Will the surviving passengers learn valuable lessons about life in their fight to stay alive. You betcha. “Deep Water” (2026) is Renny Harlin’s latest shark flick, which is no instant classic like “Deep Blue Sea” (1999), but is reportedly more entertaining and better quality than his latest horror trilogy, “The Strangers” prequels. Another bit of forgettable fun.
“Deep Water” aims to be the next classic disaster/survival movie and cleverly references “The Poseidon Adventure” (1972), but unlike that classic, you will not remember it once the credits roll because it lacks the star power to fuel this vehicle. Rick is constantly working because he is avoiding problems at home. It takes a plane crash to make him want to pick up the slack at home thus postponing his wife’s realization that a divorce would be a good idea. Eckhart is at his most chiseled jaw, stiff heroics as a pilot always bruising for a fight. His foil is Dan (Angus Sampson), a walking, talking advertisement for the worst in entitled, irresponsible American constantly jonesing for a cigarette. Dan’s redeeming factor is that he actually wants to spend time with his kids. Cora (Molly Belle Wright) is not thrilled that she inherited a baby brother, Finn (Elijah Tamati), when her dad, Declan (Ryan Brown), remarried a hottie and decides to join the mile high club at the worst time. (Parentification, aisle two.) A coach (Mark Hadlow) keeps obnoxious American jocks Hutch (Lakota Johnson) and Jesse (Rarmian Newton) from being mean to their Chinese competitors, Sheng (Fei Li) and Lily (Rosie Zhao). Sheng and Lily are apparently forbidden to like each other, and Sheng spends most of the movie trying to reunite with her. Writer Matt (Richard Crouchley) has a huge crush on flight attendant, Zoey, but his nearby seatmate, Becky (Kate Fitzpatrick), is the wise cracking older lady who keeps it real.
All the characters are archetypes who barely get names such as the single veterinarian and the random praying dude. Fitzpatrick may be the best part of “Deep Water” and provides the only intentional humor. Sampson leans into being the real villain of the film and gives the sharks a run for their money. The kid actors, Wright and Tamati, perform some solid work with Tamati shrieking like a baby while delivering some funny one liners. The romance between Sheng and Lily was credible, and for a change, it was nice to see a Hollywood movie court the Chinese market with more than one Chinese character and several important storylines. It would have been nice if the six writers could have hinted what sport they played so it would play an important role in their survival story, but no. Shockingly Kinsley and Eckhart are the most bland characters despite the actors’ undeniable experience and talent. Maybe they just wanted to hide their light under a bushel to give everyone else a chance
The special effects are good. The plane crash is rousing with plenty of blunt deaths on the way down. It may be better than the shark attacks. It was hilarious to see that the old horror rules are still being observed regarding sex even if the characters are married. The mile-highers were tortured more than Dan. The sharks seem real enough, mean and hungry. When the plane lands and breaks into bits, the coral reef action was a nice added complication to the story. If there was a critique, the shark attacks felt as if they disproportionately targeted women. There was one punk out when a character fell in the water but survived for reasons. The rules for swimming in the water seemed all over the place. Are flare guns waterproof? No matter. “Deep Water” is serviceable for a disaster movie, but there are better shark movies such as the iconic “Jaws” (1975) and the more recent, daring and devastating “Dangerous Animals” (2025), which felt as if it reinvented the genre, but now we are back to the classics, and this generation has not been around the block long enough to know better so have at it.
If Harlin screwed up, when the plane broke apart, it was hard to tell where all the parts were in relation to each other. One character just ends up on top of the fuselage as if they were in a “X-Men” movie, and through stress, discovered that they had teleportation powers. If you cone into the movie not expecting much, it is fine and functional, but if you are hoping for Harlin at his best (“The Long Kiss Goodnight,” “Cutthroat Island,” “Devil’s Pass”), keep waiting.
If “Deep Water” appears old-fashioned, it could be because it has been gathering mothballs for twelve years. It was originally intended to be a sequel to “Bait 3D” (2012). It is now completely unrelated to that story. Gene Simmons helped rescue it, and apparently the KISS bandmember is in movies now. Because the story sounded too similar to the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 307 on March 8, 2014, they tucked it away for another day. Other than the flight’s destination, it does not resemble that mystery in any way. There is some suspense regarding whether they will be found because of numerous issues sending a signal out, but it hardly resembles the tragedy in a substantive way. If anything, the resolution seemed too easy given how vast the Pacific Ocean is and how small the wreckage is.
“Deep Water” often feels like a Sid Davis social guidance film for the TSA and travelers. The most electric sequence is the opening, and it starts with smoking in non-designated spots. Then the film proceeds to depict the dangers of using frayed wires to charge your electronic devices and sticking them in your bag. Then Harlin shows the x-ray process, and the workers playing on their phone instead of seeing the fire burning in a suitcase. It then becomes a Rube Goldbergian delight as the disaster intensifies and wreaks the havoc that makes the movie possible. It ends in becoming a public service announcement about the dangers of smoking.
If you must see “Deep Water,” at most, it deserves matinee. It will have more impact if you see it on a big screen with a crowd of people laughing and rooting for the bad citizens of the air to die or do better so they can survive, but if you are not into sharks or watching a disaster unfold, there is no reason to see this film. It is more for the people who miss the “Airplane” franchise and do not mind getting the store brand version.
