CinemaSerf

Sep 22, 2024

5.0

When the long-hidden wreck of the battleship "USS Charlotte" is discovered, it proves a must-explore opportunity for a visiting collection of erstwhile college students. Initially, "Noah" (Jack Parr) isn't keen on taking them all, but when he discovers that his local bar-owning mate "Levi" (Julian Sands) is $36k in the hole, he teases the the cash from the arrogant ass that is "Brett" (Alexander Arnold) and so down they go. Initially, all goes well enough but you have to remember that a battleship is a large construction with loads of corridors, ladders, portholes and especially with this one - rust. As this entitled and hungover bunch of travellers enter deeper into the infrastructure, they also meet a problem a little more menacing. Sharks like it down there too, and they are hungry for some rubbery frat sandwiches. What with a maze of collapsing ironworks, the odd dead body and now these marauding man/woman eating fish, we are set for quite an underwater adventure full of squealing and screaming with acting and dialogue that had me wanting to sign up for my local adopt-an-elasmobranch society. The photography works quite well and it does generate a little tension, but the rest of it just hammy comic book stuff where the cast deserve all the chewing they get. the sparingly featured Julian Sands must have fancied a free holiday somewhere warm, else he had a tax bill to settle - otherwise this is entirely forgettable fayre that we've all seen before and won't need to see again. Perhaps it should have been entitled "The Last Gasp"?