'Deep Water', a review of this plane crash and shark movie

Summer is a time of year when there is an abundance of films that are purely for entertainment and not of very high quality.

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A few days ago saw the Spanish premiere of "Deep Water" (released in Spain as "En mar abierto" and in Hispanic America as "Deadly Impact"), a film directed by Finnish filmmaker Renny Harlin, director of, among other films, "Die Hard 2" (1990) and "Cutthroat Island" (1995). The film stars Ben Kingsley and Aaron Eckhart, who play the pilot and co-pilot, respectively, of a commercial airliner flying from Los Angeles to Shanghai. Kingsley is already 82 years old, so seeing him as an airline pilot is highly questionable (international regulations require these pilots to retire at 65).

The plot of the film is that a plane is forced to make an emergency water landing in the Pacific Ocean, hundreds of miles from the island of Guam, and the survivors have to face a group of hungry sharks. In terms of aviation, the film is quite good, although with some major errors, such as overlooking the fact that emergency beacons float and are usually located in the tail, not the center section of the aircraft. Regarding maritime aspects, the error is even more significant: the film shows us a Chinese trawler that is, in fact, a tugboat.

The action is typical of plane crash and shark movies, but mixed together. There are some interesting characters and others who deserve to be catapulted off the cliff. Overall, it's an entertaining film, but don't expect much more. It's a typical summer blockbuster that does its job without too many surprises. Needless to say, it's best not to see this movie with young children. Here's the trailer: