By Troy Ribeiro
Film: "47 Meters Down: Uncaged"; Cast: Sophie Nelisse, Corinne Foxx, Brianne Tju, Sistine Stallone; Direction: Johannes Roberts; Rating: * & 1/2
"47 Meters Down: Uncaged" is supposed to be a sequel of the 2017-released, minimalistic aquatic survival thriller, "47 Meters Down". While both films share the same theme, the two are unrelated in terms of characters or setting.
Set in the outskirts of Yucatan City, Mexico, the plot is simple. It follows four high-school girls who scuba dive into a sunken cave, which contains the ruins of a Mayan temple that has been flooded by the rising sea levels.
Unbeknownst to the girls, lurking within the precincts of the sunken temple is a school of blind killer sharks, who are the result of centuries of evolution away from the open sea.
As the girls venture deep into the depths of the temple, they find a rare species of cave fish. After being startled by one such fish, one of the girls accidentally knocks over a giant stone column. This makes the entrance to the tunnel collapse. The girls are now trapped underwater and inside the temple.
The commotion that is created attracts the killer sharks towards their prey. Thence begins the girls' struggle for survival.
Two of the girls, Mia (Sophie Nelisse) and Sasha (Corinne Foxx) are step-siblings, daughters of an American archaeologist. The others, Alexa (Brianne Tju) and Nicole (Sistine Stallone) are friends.
The characters are so devoid of actual personality that once they don their scuba helmets and dive underwater, it is impossible to tell them apart at any given moment.
What fails here is the script. It is unconvincing. Apart from the one-dimensional characters, there are many plot points that seem to be lazily jotted with a series of increasingly banal shock moments before culminating with one of the most senile endings to grace any film in recent memory.
With the film set almost entirely underwater, there is nothing appealing from the visual perspective, too. The atmospheric frames of panic and chaos, with an occasional close up of the gigantic whales trying to reach out to the girls, are way too dark and murky.
The screeching sound adds to the pandemonium, and the background score at times seem totally incongruous. Together, they do not elevate the viewing experience.
Overall, this film appears as an unimaginative offering totally not worth your time and ticket price.