New to video-on-demand platforms in the UK is the shark thriller, The Last Breath. The film – directed by Joachim Hedén – stars Alexander Arnold, Jack Parr, Kim Spearman, and the late Julian Sands, and tells the story of a group of friends who encounter a shark whilst scuba diving.
In the movie, Noah and Levi are in the ocean on the hunt. They are looking for the sunken remains of the USS Charlotte – a historic vessel which has been lost at sea since the 1940s.
Up until now there has been no sign of the ship, but on Noah’s latest dive he discovers the remains. After celebrating this momentous occasion with his partner, Levi, Noah calls together a group of his friends to tell them the news.
Upon hearing about the wreckage, Noah’s rich friend, Brett proposes a suggestion: He will pay a vast sum of money to dive the site. Initially, Noah and Levi refuse the proposal, however, when it comes to light that Levi has significant money troubles, Noah agrees to the dive.
The following morning, the group embark on what should be an exciting exploration. However, things take an unfortunate turn when a shark joins the diving party.
*Yawn*
*Heavy sigh*
In 1975, Steven Spielberg brought his tense shark thriller, Jaws to the big screen. Filled with suspense and drama, Jaws was a nerve-shredding picture, which held the audience’s attention from start to finish.
Almost 50 years later, The Last Breath makes its debut and boy, oh boy, is it not Jaws. The Last Breathis neither tense or suspenseful, and for the most part it’s quite dull.
Not much happens for the first half of the film, and there is also a distinct lack of shark. Oh, there are some pretty shots, including some good underwater camera work, but there’s not a great deal of excitement on offer and if you’re interested in this film purely for the shark action you’ll be fairly disappointed.
Essentially The Last Breath is a film about a bunch of people (one of whom is very irritating) getting trapped under water amongst the wreckage of a ship. Sharks pose a threat, but so does a limited air supply, and that’s about the thrust of the film.
Huge sections of the movie involve the cast decked out in diving gear, waving torches around (flashlights for all my US readers) and acting a bit frantic. This sort of thing is fine for a few minutes here and there, but making this a big part of your picture is asking a lot and it sure does test the patience after a while.
The problem is, it’s all been done before and in a much better way. OK, so the film occasionally has decent moments, and it’s certainly watchable, but The Last Breath is unlikely to excite or delight anyone and this is a big sticking point.
Many films of 2024 are struggling to entertain or offer anything imaginative, and this is The Last Breathin a nutshell. Visually it’s fine, and the underwater cinematography can’t be knocked, but the story simply isn’t there.
While The Last Breath isn’t terrible, it’s not compelling either. In an era where there are many things to occupy our time, it’s no longer good enough to be a mediocre shark film.
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