The Last Breath is the latest killer shark movie to swim into view, but can it do something fresh with one of cinema’s most tired sub-genres?
As someone with an unflinching interest in shark movies, I’m never sure what I find more frustrating. The godawful try-nothing movies that don’t put all that much cash into any one aspect of the production? Or is it the ones that get one point well and whiff the others so bad a shark wouldn’t eat it?
The Last Breath is in the latter camp. There’s a very commendable understanding of underwater cinematography at play here. But that focus seems to mean sense and logic have been largely drained from the narrative’s oxygen tank.
Before we get into that, the story: A group of college friends is increasingly distant seven years after their initial time together. Their latest reunion comes two whole years after the last. So that dynamic drives a certain desperation to have a moment together.
Noah (Jack Parr – The Limehouse Golem) is working with the seasoned ocean-farer and scuba tour owner Levi (Julian Sands in what is seemingly his last role before his tragic demise) to find a long-lost WWII battleship. They finally chance upon the wreck after storms unearth it from the sands of the deep. Financial strains are alluded to and then explicitly stated. That presents an opportunity when Noah’s rich prick pal Brett (Alexander Arnold) offers a princely sum to show his Instagram fans that he’s got first dibs on exploring a historic wreck. So, the reunion of the college pals is set to culminate in a landmark dive before the authorities get their hands on it.
The Last Breath trailer
The dynamic created by the wealthy git gaining leverage over the dive is a catalyst for tension and idiotic decision-making. Even if the character is poorly written, Alexander Arnold deserves praise for making Brett a fully detestable detached villain of the piece. He leverages the frailty of Levi and Noah’s business to do whatever he wants, and if we’ve learned anything about arrogant rich guys at sea in recent years, it’s that some think the rules of nature and physics do not apply to them.
Soon, the foursome find themselves trapped in the wreck. Running out of air, and hunted by some seriously tetchy Great White sharks.
The good stuff. The underwater scenes generally look great. Although using a different cinematographer this time, director Joachim Hedén showed that this is his realm with 2020’s Breaking Surface. At its best, it conveys a sense of claustrophobia and panic as things get hairer. If it had been more of a pocket disaster movie about them getting trapped down there without the shark stuff, it might have fared better. Because the underwater scenes instill a believability that the CG sharks do not help maintain.
There are also some decent gore effects with close-ups of ragged flesh and lacerations. Again though, they aren’t exactly delicately blended with digital effects all that well.
The other performances are nothing special in general. They’re downright awful in some instances. This will hardly go down in the annals of great Julian Sands performances, but it’s hard not to think of his recent passing when watching him in a new film for what is likely the last time. With that knowledge in mind, an emotional weight is attached to his sad old boat captain. Yet still, this film finds a way to undermine that with a frankly illogical and downright terrible last scene for his character.
Deep Sea Blues
And that leads us to the bad. The Last Breath has all this underwater expertise, but seems to be lacking elsewhere. Every character is a glib cliche stereotype largely performed with a gusto reserved for redwood trees. Decision-making is beyond idiotic. Especially considering how much knowledge there had to be about what does and doesn’t work underwater. Some really, really baffling choices that defy logic.
I think we should be at a point where if you’re going to do a killer shark you need to pick a lane. Are you a Deep Blue Sea where your sharks have superpowers that allow you to break conventions? Or are you going for something a bit more grounded? So many of these movies get stuck on the rocks between the two and become annoying. We know so much more about sharks now than we did when Jaws came out. Making things up about sharks is fine in the right narrative context, but do it with some consistency.
In The Last Breath, one minute, they’re using logical facts about what a shark can or cannot do; the next, they’re treating them like a fishy Ghostface capable of dramatic entrances and coordinated planning. Coupled with the wonky CGI, it makes it hard to have any fear of these toothy killers of the deep.
Inconsistency is the keyword for this film. At one point, a big deal is made about how little air one character has in their oxygen tank and how it would be nearly impossible to get to the surface. Later, a character free-dives for an absurd amount of time whilst being pursued by a shark. Again, with so much knowledge of underwater filming available, it seems at odds with that.
Then we have the ending, which doesn’t really give a proper payoff and then closes on a tone-deaf ending for characters that have been tough to care for in the preceding 90 minutes.
The Last Breath is a waste of some great potential. There are the bones for an intense shark survival thriller here that is sunk by so many poor decisions. There are many worse shark movies out there, but few are as frustratingly bad as this one.
Score: 3/10
As ComingSoon’s review policy explains, a score of 3 equates to ”Bad”. Due to significant issues, this media feels like a chore to take in.
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