47 METERS DOWN: UNCAGED

UK, USA/2019

Directed By: Johannes Roberts

Written By: Ernest Riera, Johannes Roberts

Starring: Sophie Nelisse, Corinne Foxx, Brianne Tju

Color/90 Minutes/PG-13

Region A

Release Date: November 12, 2019

Blu-ray/DVD

The Film 

2017 saw the release of Johannes Roberts' tension filled shark thriller 47 Meters Down which was featured a simple idea of two sisters being stuck on the Ocean floor, locked in a shark cage as their oxygen depletes. The film was flawed but it had a decent premise and some good production quality. I don't remember anyone clamoring for a sequel but that didn't stop one from being made and this time there's no cage. 

47 METERS DOWN: UNCAGED introduces an entirely new story and set of characters featuring four teen girls who sneak into an underwater archaeology site of a newly discovered sunken Mayan city. This diving adventure starts well enough until an accident knocks over some massive statues and some blind deepwater sharks enter the fray making the desperate search for another way out before their oxygen levels deplete all the more dangerous. 

The Mayan city setting was absolutely stunning and I wish we somehow could have had more of it before all the dust gets kicked up and this becomes another shark attack film. The deepwater sharks and fish have an eerie translucent glow about them but their CGI rendering is spotty at times and there's some genuinely stupid moments like when a fish literally screams at one of the girls for a jump scare. This moment where any sort of serious filmmaking jumps the shark (punny punny) and took me out of it to the point where I struggled to settle back in for a while. I did appreciate that there's a good amount of shark violence and not just stalking around and near misses, specifically in the ending scene that cruelly throws the survivors into the jaws of these killer sharks almost relentlessly. 

I found 47 METERS DOWN: UNCAGED to lack the tension and acting quality of the original but did give us some eye catching set pieces and shark action but it relies on repetitious situations, and largely poor looking sharks. It's inoffensive but nothing more. 

The Audio & Video

Lionsgate delivers 47 METERS DOWN: UNCAGED on Blu-ray with a beautiful looking 2.40:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer that features stunning clarity with vivid colors and high levels of detail. Black levels are deep and inky and the picture quality is as gorgeous as the locations featured within. The English audio is presented in a 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio mix with optional English SDH and Spanish subtitles. The audio is crisp and clear with no crackling, popping or other imperfections. The mix is nicely done and mixed well across all channels with proper balance in dialogue and soundtrack. 

The Extras

-"Diving Deeper: Uncaging 47 Meters Down" - a making-of featurette
-Audio commentary with writer/director Johannes Roberts, producer James Harris and writer Ernest Riera

The Bottom Line
This isn't reinventing the shark movie wheel by any means. Its familiar territory that could possibly make for an okay use of time on a rainy Sunday afternoon but otherwise you can do better. 

47 METERS DOWN: UNCAGED is available HERE