Plot
Following a tragic accident, renowned open-water shark diver Kate Mathieson (Berry) spends her days running mundane boat tours. With the bills piling up, her ex boyfriend (Martinez) talks her into accepting a lucrative offer from a wealthy thrill-seeker (Brown) who wants to swim with sharks outside the cage. Heading to the notorious Shark Alley, Kate has to put her past behind her when things don’t go to plan…
Review
While shark movies aren’t in short supply these days, Dark Tide has something that the many others don’t. Namely, the consistent site of Halle Berry in a bikini. But as appealing as the prospect of her stripping down (again) is, the movie itself fails to generate much in the way of tension or suspense. So little, in fact, that you can see why such a can’t-miss concept (Halle Berry, bikini, sharks) went straight to DVD.
Having helmed both Blue Crush and Into The Blue, you could say that director John Stockwell is Hollywood’s go-to guy for sea-based actioners. But while the underwater sequences occasionally threaten to become exciting, they never really do. Worse still, the character drama is uninteresting from start to finish, and Berry (who once won an Oscar, remember?) is simply unable to elevate such generic material.
Very predictable throughout, Dark Tide is the sort of movie where a father-figure character who’s about to retire goes on one last dive. You don’t have to be Columbo to figure out what’s about to happen to him. There’s a certain guilty pleasure to be had, but it’s hard to feel sympathy for characters who swim (unprotected) with sharks and poke them in the face.
Verdict
Despite the appeal of Halle Berry swimming with sharks in a bikini, you can see why Dark Tide went straight to DVD.
