Rating summary

Movie		1.5
Video		4.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

47 Meters Down: Uncaged Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf March 3, 2020

Three years ago, “47 Meters Down” enjoyed a movie release miracle, rescued from a DTV fate by Entertainment Studios, who purchased the film on the day of its DVD debut, with the company trying to cash in on shark fever at the cinema. The plan worked, with “47 Meters Down” managing to find an audience, keeping the subgenre alive for another season. This summer, the real aquatic action remains with alligators (from last July’s excellent thriller, “Crawl”), but the suits aren’t about to leave money on the table, returning to the deep with “47 Meters Down: Uncaged,” which has nothing to do with the first picture, merely taking its title and sharks for another underwater joyride. Co-writer/director Johannes Roberts returns as well, newly empowered to dump character work and suspense, focused primarily on making a cheap scare machine that’s brainless and joyless, sticking with limp exploitation basics.

Recently relocated to a Mexican beach town, Mia (Sophie Nelisse) is struggling with local bullies who try to make her school assimilation an impossibility. Her stepsister, Sasha (Corinne Foxx), is little help, focusing her attention on a party weekend with pals Nicole (Sistine Stallone) and Alexa (Brianne Tju). When their father, Grant (John Corbett), an underwater explorer, is needed as a guide to help with an archaeological trip to visit an ancient Mayan city that’s hidden in the deep, he pushes for his kids to take a tourist boat to see sharks together, helping to bond. Nicole and Alexa promptly arrive to steal Sasha away, who drags Mia with her as the foursome explore a secret entrance to the ruins, using diving equipment to get a closer look. However, simple fun turns into a living hell when an old, battered shark is found patrolling the area, leaving the girls trapped with the predator when loose walls crumble, blocking their exit.

Story isn’t a priority for “47 Meters Down: Uncaged,” which offers only a basic understanding of problems for Mia, who’s pushed into a pool by her school’s class bully during the first scene, storming off while Sasha basically ignores the grand humiliation, with their sisterly bond lacking in love. There’s a little about Grant and his professional duties to help researchers, but the tale is quickly off with the four teenagers, who enter the jungle with plans to locate a special oceanic entrance that’s built for high dives and deep waters. They have access to Grant’s equipment, suiting up with scuba gear that somehow makes it completely easy to converse with one another underwater, paying a visit to the Mayan temple, sneaking their way through tight passageways as they set off on an adventure. Not that a killer shark movie needs dramatic thunder, but “47 Meters Down” had a little more substance when it came to understanding the participants and their predicament. The sequel simply inflates a handful of plastic characters and sends them into trouble, but not before Roberts can work in a few intrusive soundtrack plugs and share his upskirt obsession with Stallone, making her rear-end a supporting character.

Once the teens are inside the ruins, “47 Meters Down: Uncaged” becomes a waiting game for the shark, which doesn’t arrive right away. The divers are permitted time to marvel over the surroundings, with Mia, the educated one, sharing the history of the temple, which was a site for human sacrifices. They encounter a blind, colorless fish, representing the untouched environment they’re pushing through. When this creature from the deep greets the gang with a loud scream, it becomes clear Roberts isn’t in the mood for any sort of realism, granting himself “Jaws: The Revenge” powers to take the tale anywhere. Strangely, “47 Meters Down: Uncaged” isn’t an unleashed film, padding the run time with shots of travel and underwater banter, keeping the expense of a CGI shark (which doesn’t look convincing) to a minimum. Once the predator appears, Roberts arranges fairly routine near-misses and chases, using the dark, claustrophobic setting for disorientation purposes. He even steals a classic chomp scenario from “Deep Blue Sea,” keeping invention out of the production.

47 Meters Down: Uncaged Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Dealing with environmental extremes, "47 Meters Down: Uncaged" offers an enjoyable feel for island locations in the first act of the movie. The AVC encoded image (2.39:1 aspect ratio) presentation brings out the brightness of tropical greenery and sunshine, while waters remain crystal blue to reinforce the paradise appeal of the setting. Swim gear is colorful, as are vehicles and equipment. Visual reach changes when the action heads underwater, aiming for a cooler palette. Skintones are natural. Detail is sharp, securing facial nuances and CGI artistry, giving ragged textures to the sharks. Locations preserve dimension. Compression issues are periodic, with banding detected.

47 Meters Down: Uncaged Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 5.1 DTS-HD MA sound mix also identifies the different settings for the movie, as dialogue exchanges are clear and natural with dry land interactions, while a more electronic tone is utilized for underwater conversations. Intelligibility is ideal. Scoring efforts are defined, with supportive orchestral push for suspense needs, and soundtrack selections are noted, handling with appropriate bigness, while one track used during an underwater welding scene offers intended echo. Surrounds are good with atmospherics, securing jungle activity and school bustle, while pressure during cave tours is noted. Low-end has some punch with shark attacks and violence.

47 Meters Down: Uncaged Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary features co-writer/director Johannes Roberts, co-writer Ernest Riera, and producer James Harris.

• "Diving Deep: Uncaging '47 Meters Down'" (12:30, HD) is a slickly produced featurette on the making of "47 Meters Down: Uncaged," keeping to an interview circle that includes Sophie Nelisse, Corinne Foxx, Brianne Tju, and Sistine Rose Stallone, with some additional insight provided by John Corbett. With conversations recorded on-set, there's no expectation for a thoughtful post-mortem assessment of the feature, with the actresses instead offering their audition memories, with Foxx and Tju promising the producers stellar swimming skills, only to show up to the shoot without any capabilities in the water. There's a used car salesperson vibe to the talks, as everyone shares their fandom of the original "47 Meters Down," also reinforcing their female camaraderie during production. Identification of the separate locations is offered, with exteriors collected in the Dominican Republic, with the cast enjoying the sun and sand, while interiors and underwater action was created in London. Some talk of equipment and a newfound hatred of water is presented, but more interesting are glimpses of BTS work from the crew, and there's just not enough of it in the featurette, which could do with a lot less faux enthusiasm for a dismal project.

• And a Theatrical Trailer has not been included.

47 Meters Down: Uncaged Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The characters not only battle a shark, but they deal with limited oxygen, botched rescue attempts, and a swirling underwater vortex, which makes the film looks chaotic, not exciting. Roberts did well with 2018's "The Strangers: Prey at Night," but his effort to stylize this endeavor mostly fails, with a general abuse of slo-mo photography adding to the viewing headache. Those simply seeking shark aggression might be able to extract a good time with "47 Meters Down: Uncaged," but this is no improvement on the mediocre original. It's just noisier, cartoonish, and predictable.