Dark Tide (2012): Through the Eyes of Cat

Number Rolled: N/A

Movie Name/Year: Dark Tide (2012)

Tagline: In Shark Alley, courage runs deep.

Genre: Adventure, Drama, Thriller

Length: 113 minutes

Rating: PG-13

Production Companies: Alliance Cinema, Magnet Media Group, Magnet Media Productions, Magnet Media Productions, Mirabelle Pictures, Film Afrika Worldwide, Cinedigm, Lipsync Productions, Procinvest Sas, Social Capital

Producers: Verenice Buerling, Jeanette Buerling-Milio, Matthew E. Chausse, Philippe Chausse, Sukee Chew, Meg Clark, Ali Cook, Trish Cook, Michael Corso, Chris Curling, Brian Donovan, Vlokkie Gordon, Anthony Gudas, Nina Heyns, Norman Merry, John Michaels, Maggie Monteith, Karl Nickoley, Celine Rattray, Douglas Saylor Jr., Martin Shore, Matthew Spain, Jeff Steele, Guy Tannahill, Christopher Tuffin, Eric van den Eijnden, David Wicht, Pasquale Zaza

Director: John Stockwell

Writers: Ronnie Christensen, Amy Sorlie

Actors: Halle Berry, Olivier Martinez, Sizwe Msutu, Mark Elderkin, Thoko Ntshinga, Ralph Brown, Luke Tyler

Stunt Doubles: Amanda Foster, Francois Grobbelaar, Dan Hirst, Grant Hulley, James O'Donnell, Chris Pollard, Katie Rowe, Franz Spilhaus

Blurb from Netflix:  A "shark whisperer" is crippled by fear. Is big money enough bait to lure her back into the perilous depths?

As we’ve done in the past, since Selina is away; I’ve revisited a move that she’s already watched and reviewed for you. This way we can offer you the same dual perspective that our current reviews provide. So while our Sellie is away, we shall play… with sharks!

For those that caught my January 21^st, 2017 But I Digress article, you might have an inkling of how much I geek out over sharks. These powerful, majestic, and terrifying predators have been a fascination of mine dating back many years. 

While this movie doesn’t deal with the megalodon, it does feature the modern-day apex predator of the ocean – the great white shark. 

So let’s get down to the brass tacks here. I could babble about sharks all day, but you’ve come here for a review. 

I’ll be honest right out of the gate – this movie wasn’t the best shark thriller ever made. The film had its share of issues; however, it wasn’t the worst shark thriller ever made, either. I’d say it’s somewhere waffling around the middle of the road. The movie’s gotten quite a lot of reviews that are considerably unfavorable. 

There might be some truth to the consensus that the movie was akin to a soap opera more than it was a thriller; however, the movie wasn’t devoid of nail-biting moments. The murky underwater environment was the perfect setting to evoke dread with these monsters of the deep. My main issue with the film had nothing to do with that. There was an entire scene that just felt like it was thrown in randomly for the hell of it. It didn’t tie in with the core plot or even in a tangential way that would make it a valid sub-plot. At best, it was the equivalent of ‘flavor text’ to build more of an environment of peril in regards to the sharks – but that was entirely unnecessary. 

So let’s get on with what I felt the movie did right.

For one thing, they used actual footage of real sharks and seals as filmed off the coast of South Africa around Cape Town. Seal Island was the real deal. This area is one of the most active great white areas on the planet. They love to munch those seals. Most of those incredible images of great whites leaping right out of the ocean were taken right there. 

The only shots that were doctored with effects were the ones where people were interacting directly with the toothsome terrors. The effects were well done and I would be hard-pressed, even as a shark aficionado, to point out where the real footage ended and where the graphics began. It’s clear that great care was taken to portray the sharks correctly rather than just sensationally, as with most shark-attack movies. 

The information they give about sharks, that area off the coast of South Africa, and the like is all accurate. Hidden within this movie is a small nature documentary in truth. I enjoyed the fact that they went with the real deal rather than hyped up fictional sensationalism. 

This might not be at the top of my recommendation list for shark movies, but I wouldn’t mind watching it again.

Languages

Speech Available: English

Subtitles Available: English, Spanish

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 0%

Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score –15%

Metascore - 23/100

Metacritic User Score – 3.9/10

IMDB Score – 4.3/10

Trust the Dice: Cat’s Rating – 3/5

 Movie Trailer: