Whilst the 'shark survival' sub genre has plenty of contributors it's probably fair to say that many, if not most, are really let down by either sub standard vfx or by really non committal performances. The few that stand out, including the Reef, The Shallows, and Open Water, do so because they don't skimp on those two very important components. As far as stories go it's very hard to offer much in the way of differentiation. By its very nature the sub genre puts people, mainly young adults admittedly, at the mercy of the ocean's top predatory fish, which through over reliance on the biggest and most recogniseable, as opposed to the most voracious or scheming, becomes a little predictable and trite at times. Great White for me sits firmly in the middle of all these shark movies. It's a predictable story with a predictable setup and outcome. Like many horror movies do, it invites, through its simplicity, audiences to predict who will die when, based on stereotypical characters and character traits. That said, Great White is entertaining enough, blending good performance with live shark footage and enough 'below water, above water' cinematography to induce suspense. What lets it down rather badly are the few occasions where the VFX sharks fall into the Sharknado realm of shoddy and ineffectual. And that's a pity, as with The Shallows level of CGI this could quite easily have avoided the one major pitfall of films in this sub genre - it's too dangerous to get real up close footage to convince. So if you have to fake it - don't appear to be faking it. KONTIKI is your reference if you need to see VFX sharks done seamlessly. Anyway, this is certainly not a bad film, it's entertaining and passable as an entry alongside the films already mentioned. Those who have slammed it unashamedly really are doing it a disservice and frankly their critiques or opinions are little more than the chum that minor characters in this type of film become.
Review of Great White
