With the Olympics being held in Paris, there were so much concerns over the quality of the River Siene. I just heard that they had to cancel some events because the river is too polluted. The concept being Under Paris is a shortfin mako shark becoming genetically altered and growing bigger as well as able to swim in fresh waters and even the Siene.
The movie starts off great with a French researchers encountering Lilith, the tagged mako who kills several of them. This happens at the Great Pacific garbage patch which after seeing it and knowing it’s the real thing, then maybe the shark isn’t too bad. Sophia Assalas (Berenice Bejo) tries to go after Lilith and save her researchers including her romantic partner but she get tangled and is nearly dragged to the depths before she cuts herself loose. I really don’t think a human could survive as long underwater with no breathing apparatus.
But Sophia does survive but she has injuries. Three years later, she is working at an aquarium in Paris where she finds out that Lilith’s tracking device is still active and she’s been spotted from the Pacific all the way up the Siene River. A man has been pulled from the water having died from apparent shark bites. It’s believed that Lilith has gotten trapped in the catacombs.
So, Sophia and a police officer, Adil (Nassim Lyes), go in with other police but they discover some several others have been led by a young environmentalist, Mika (Lea Levient). This leads to a sequence that is supposed to be terrifying but is more comical. I mean, the only thing the people of Paris need to do is stay out of the water. But they discover that Lilith has given birth asexually to a lot of juvenile sharks. Needless to say it’s a slaughter.
But the Mayor of Paris (Anne Marivin) doesn’t want to do anything because there’s a triathlon planned that involves people swimming in the Siene and they’ve already spent so much money. So, of course, it happens and there’s another slaughter. There are five writers credited including director Xavier Gens and it’s based on an idea by two other writers. To me, it looks like it’s based on Jaws, Deep Blue Sea and that 1998 Godzilla movie, which looked like it borrowed a lot from the Jurassic Park movies.
It really doesn’t matter. The killer shark subgenre of horror is so full of imitators of the original Jaws, that I’m not sure Steven Spielberg and Universal Pictures can legally sue for plagiarism as they did for the movie Great White or The Last Shark as it’s known. The fact that this movie is on Netflix, it should be a sign of its quality. Still, I felt it could be a fun popcorn shark movie. But the characters are so foolish in everything they do, it’s hard to root for them.
I was wondering if the filmmakers wanted to make a statement about the environmental but the way Mika goes nuts and becomes shark chow, I realized they didn’t. But what makes me laugh is after the massive attack in the catacombs, how is this thing not blowing up the Internet in 2024. It isn’t like in the original Jaws where the mayor can just omit a lot of facts and twist the truth for a TV reporter. The mayor here would be dodging questions left and right and I don’t think anyone would want to compete in the triathlon.
And then there’s an ending that defies the liquid matter levels of the Siene and is impossible. A friend of mine said she walked out of Twisters because she couldn’t take it anymore. I hope she doesn’t watch this. And neither should you. Go watch Jaws or Deep Blue Sea or even the original Jurassic Park.
Or you can watch the Olympics.
Just don’t watch this.
What do you think? Please comment.
Zane Says 