9. The Setting
Jaws is located in the lovable and (by now) very retrospective Amity Island. Aside from the man eating shark and rambling fishermen, it was the perfect quaint little town. The people are friendly, the houses are all well maintained, the beach is beautiful and the atmosphere that radiates off of the screen is one of amiable satisfaction. Then the scene is shattered by the aforementioned man eating shark and his misadventures devouring skinny-dipping hippy chicks and young dogs and children, and not a second too late we are cast away from this beautiful piece of land into the harshness of the open sea. We spend the remainder of the film with little more than the ocean and the Orca, which proves very atmospheric and phobia-inducing, but I cant help but feel that the stark contrast between the safety of lovely Amity and the danger of the water detracts from the whole idea of the shark being a hidden presence. Deep Blue Seas claustrophobic corridors and dark grey elevator shafts are the less obvious choice for a shark film. Did I mention they're underwater? That ups the ante a little bit, but still it seems strange that a shark could navigate such size restricting areas. But that is how it works. The sharks are clever, and sneaky. They can strut along hallways as the chase down the Chef, or they can plummet through a door and suddenly making falling from a ladder an even worse idea, creating this uncomfortably suspenseful series of set pieces that are both believable enough and terrifying enough to make Aquatica the next 1428 Elm Street. So Deep Blue Sea navigates its way back into the game. But on the final, most important category, can it pull a draw out of nowhere?
Total: Jaws (5) Deep Blue Sea (4)