Yahoo News 47 Meters Down: Uncaged delivers the B-movie shark thrills on Netflix
47 Meters Down was an effective B-movie shark thriller that took enough of a bite out of the box office in 2017 to warrant a sequel.
Sadly, it's no longer called 48 Meters Down as the original (excellent) idea was, but 47 Meters Down: Uncaged has now swum onto Netflix in the UK, following a direct-to-DVD release last month.
That doesn't seem to bode well for 47 Meters Down: Uncaged, but don't let it put you off if you're in the need for some unashamedly ridiculous genre thrills.
There's no direct connection to 47 Meters Down and neither does the sequel have anything to do with the titular depth. (In the first movie, that's how far down the lead characters were trapped in a cage.)
Instead, the focus this time is on Mia (Sophie Nélisse) and her stepsister Sasha (Corinne Foxx) who are set up on a shark-watching tour by Mia's father Grant (John Corbett).
But in true genre movie fashion, Mia and Sasha are instead persuaded by Nicole (Sistine Stallone) and Alexa (Brianne Tju) to a remote spot where Grant's archaeological team had found an underwater Mayan city.
They decide to check it out, planning only to have a quick look at the ruins and before you can say blind killer shark, Nicole knocks over a column after being spooked by a fish and the group are trapped.
Add in Grant's two assistants (both would be wearing red shirts on Star Trek) who are working in the cave system and Grant himself, and the stage is set for a good old-fashioned shark hunt.
And, mostly, 47 Meters Down: Uncaged delivers on that promise.
There are surprise shark attacks, claustrophobic tunnel escapes and tense near-misses by the boatload, with co-writer/director Johannes Roberts fully aware of what the audience wants from the movie.
You might have to wade through an overlong set-up, but once the underwater action kicks in around the 30-minute mark, 47 Meters Down: Uncaged plays like an underwater shark-filled remake of The Descent.
The downside of the underwater cave setting is that it can be hard during fast-paced set pieces to tell what's going on or who is about to be eaten by a shark. Really though, this doesn't matter all that much when most people can guess who's going to be left by the end.
***spoilers ahead though, just in case***
It's pretty obvious that Mia and Sasha will be the ones to find a resolution to their difficult relationship – and all it took was for them to be hunted by a killer shark in an underwater cave system connected to an ancient Mayan city.
They find their way to the surface eventually and find salvation in the guide boat that they were meant to be on. It's just unfortunate that the guide boat is trying to attract sharks by throwing chum into the water.
Here's where 47 Meters Down: Uncaged improves on its predecessor.
The first movie had a fake-out ending where it was thought they survived, but one character was just hallucinating, only for that character to then be rescued anyway, making it infuriatingly pointless.
There are no ridiculous fake-out endings here though as Mia and Sasha both risk their lives to save the other from a shark attack, with both surviving to tell the tale.
***spoilers over***
We're not saying 47 Meters Down: Uncaged is a classic by any means and it certainly isn't subtle in its retreads of classic shark movie tropes.
But even if things are more Deep Blue Sea than Jaws, that doesn't mean it isn't bloody good fun while it lasts.
47 Meters Down: Uncaged is now available to watch on Netflix.
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