Film Review: Great White (2021) – Review 3

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SYNOPSIS:

In GREAT WHITE, a blissful tourist trip turns into a nightmare when five seaplane passengers are stranded miles from shore. In a desperate bid for survival, the group try to make it to land before they either run out of supplies or are taken by a menacing terror lurking just beneath the surface.

REVIEW:

Great White, directed by Martin Wilson and written by Michael Boughen
GREAT WHITE stars Katrina Bowden (Piranha 3DD, “30 Rock”), Aaron Jakubenko (“Tidelands”), Kimie Tsukakoshi (Riptide), Tim Kano (“Neighbours”), and Te Kohe Tuhaka (Love and Monsters, “The Dead Lands”). Written by Michael Boughen (Dying Breed), the film was featured directorial debut of Martin Wilson.

UGH! I’m disgusted already. A beautiful island, a peaceful serene place, and my favorite place in the world, the ocean.

We meet a couple. They are swimming, taking selfies, being in love. The ocean whether human beings want to admit it or not. The ocean doesn’t belong to us.

Luke (Jason Wilder) and Tracy (Tatjana Marjanovic) don’t last long. Summer is approaching and it’s always a great time for shark-related movies, movies where people embark on crazy fun adventures.

Eli Roth made a film called, Fin. It’s a deep dive into what happens to sharks. Everyone should watch it.

A new group of friends arrive. Charlie (Aaron Jakubenko) and Kaz (Katrina Bowden) have arrived. They are happy, in love and blissfully unaware of what waits for them… Maybe they do know?

During a love scene Kaz runs her fingers along Charlie’s leg and it looks like he has a bite mark. It could have been from a shark? (We learn later what happens.) The tourists arrive. This should be good. We meet Michelle (Kimie Tsukakoshi) and her husband Joji (Tim Kano).

Charlie and Kaz will be taking them in the seaplane to another beautiful location. (I so want to be on an island.) They want to go to the beach, have a few cold beers, and live life to the fullest. They are truly living their best life.

Charlie seems so confident. We also meet Benny (Te Kohe Tuhaka). Joji seems to have a little bit of a problem with Benny.

Great White is beautifully shot. The aerial scenes and the island scenes with the reef. It’s so incredible. We also find out about Charlie’s shark bite. I think about all the shark-related films I have watched, The Reef, Open Water, and of course the best of all-time, JAWS.

The water is beautiful. LORD! Kaz gives them all the information about the island. It turns out Michelle’s grandfather was part of this island and story as well. This place looks like the most peaceful place I’ve ever seen. Charlie is distracted and we find something out quick. This took a turn quickly.

Welp! They find some dead people that turned up on the beach. The ocean is a big place. It’s endless. Charlie and Kaz go looking for the boat and a possible survivor?! The decide to land and go take a look. (Because why NOT!) Benny finds something and now he’s traumatized.

The shark discovered them. The seaplane is sinking, they have a life raft and Joji is being problematic. JUST GET IN THE RAFT! Sharks are the most misunderstood creatures yet movies make them into killing machines. I’m not downplaying shark attacks or people who have been hurt by sharks. I’ve read a lot on sharks and it’s said that they don’t often intentionally go after humans.

Some humans wear the rubber suits Joji isn’t happy at all. He wants to use his energy disagreeing with Charlie. There is a story for these characters. It makes you want to root for them. There isn’t just one shark anymore either. I’m not sure how far away from land they are, but they should try to get going.

Joji is trying to analyze this situation. This is an intense situation. You are, essentially in the middle of the ocean. It’s completely unknown. It’s not at all like being stranded in the middle of nowhere. There is no way to get to a store, to just hitchhike, pray you don’t get murdered along the way, and just get to a gas station. It’s the ocean.

You can’t even drink the ocean water. Charlie keeps having brief flashbacks. They lose a paddle, that’s one of the most nerve-wracking scenes ever. AND KAZ GOES IN THE WATER.  Kaz doesn’t seem upset, bothered or freaked out, which is making me freak out. The shark discovered them now in the darkness. It’s also starting to storm. Maybe they can drink the rain water?

Could people swim any slower? It’s like they are swimming in slow-motion. That was a dick move Joji. Thank you, writers, for having Kaz collect rain water to drink. I know one thing, always be prepared.

I think in today’s world, you need to be prepared for anything. You can’t go to the grocery store without a list of stuff you need to take along. Oh, we find out along the way that Joji doesn’t like the water and he almost drowned as a kid. We also learn how Charlie and Kaz met.

This isn’t JAWS, but it does have a decent story, the characters not completely stereotypical. The psychological aspect of being trapped in the middle of the ocean is terrifying. I realize I mentioned this earlier but again, it’s completely unknow territory. The unknown is the worst.

Despite Charlie and Kaz living this ocean life, they still wear the look of, “oh sh*t”, what now?! It’s chaos on the raft, and Charlie has an idea. Well, that didn’t go well. It gets crazy. Watch the movie for the ending.

Great White is a fun movie, I would say check it out. Show the sharks some love.