Under Paris review
In a sea full of sharksploitation films…Under Paris makes its own fun.
New movie reviews will not contain spoilers.
Under Paris
Directed by Xavier Gens
Written by Yannick Dahan, Xavier Gens and Maud Heywang
Starring Bérénice Bejo, Nassim Lyes, Anaïs Parello, Iñaki Lartigue, Léa Léviant, Julien Jakout and José Antonio Pedrosa Moreno
Under Paris Review
Next year will mark the 50th anniversary of Jaws. An almost uncountable number of shark movies have been released since. Spielberg’s classic stands as the inspiration for, and remains the gold standard of, the sharksploitation craze. A movie that no one ever gets that close to catching. See also: Exorcist, The. Under Paris doesn’t make a run at the king shark either. It does, however, stand out from the pack of other CGI shark movies thanks to a simple story with a bloody fun finish.
Sophia (Bérénice Bejo) watches her team devoured by a giant shark in a pre-title sequence that sets a fair expectation of what to expect from Under Paris. The CGI shark looks better than the Syfy channel lot. It’s also a far cry from the practical shark seen in Jaws. More importantly, Under Paris tells you that it isn’t going to hide its imperfections. This is what the effects look like…we’re going to have fun with them. Sophia is off the shark beat following the tragedy…until the shark who killed her team reappears. In the river Seine.
The shark shouldn’t be able to survive in the freshwater river. As Sophia and her makeshift cohorts learn, however, they aren’t tracking an ordinary shark. This is the first of a new species. The hints are there from the beginning. The tagged shark grew an impossible amount in a short amount of time. Now, they find it can reproduce asexually. Which means Paris will be overrun with sharks if they can’t find it in a hurry.
While there are some inherently silly moments in Under Paris…it doesn’t ever feel stupid. You may roll your eyes in the opening scene when Sophia is pulled into deep water and goes so long without oxygen that her swim back to the surface is hilariously impossible. But you’ll likely find extreme delight in a pack of baby sharks that attack like piranhas…consuming people in a swarm of small bites and gushing blood. That’s the give and take of Under Paris. It takes fun swings. It’s what the consistently disappointing Meg movies should be doing. They have the budget to pull it off…and Jason Statham to make it work.
Under Paris, admittedly, doesn’t always work. But it works far more often than it should given the swings it takes. The climax of the movie involves a triathlon loading the Seine with swimmers (at the behest of another of cinema’s worst Mayors), a pack of baby sharks with their giant mother, an army firing recklessly into the water…and a slew of Chekhov’s guns at the bottom of the river. Under Paris sets up a ticking time bomb early in the story. It involves World War II shells found in the river. Something that really happened. Of course, Under Paris makes them all active. A frantic, explosive climax awaits.
The climax is the highlight of Under Paris. It ends with some incredible imagery. Whether it is intentionally setting up a scenario for a sequel or not…there’s a good chance that you’ll leave your viewing excited about another chapter in this story. Easily the coolest ending to a shark movie we’ve seen in some time.
Sophia is joined by an assortment of supporting characters. There is no standout here (no Quint to steal scenes) but no one is actively bad. Performances are strong given how silly what’s going on around them often is. Aside from Sophia, however, no one feels that integral to the story. More like…reasons to get from point A to point B. That means that much of Under Paris falls onto Bejo’s shoulders. She’s very good. She keeps things grounded while the movie pushes its CGI deaths and improbably plot.
Under Paris succeeds where many sharksploitation movies fail. It mixes fun with effectively growing suspense. It’s not Jaws. Nothing ever has been. But in a sea overflowing with knockoffs and cash-ins…Under Paris swims upstream. Then it eats a lot of people, blows stuff up, and leaves the genre better than it found it.
Scare Value
Fans of killer shark movies will find a lot to like in Under Paris. The CGI is better than most…but it’s still CGI. Sophia is a strong lead character. Her mission feels more pressing by the minute. If nothing else, it has an explosive climax worth checking out. Also…the baby sharks are enough fun to warrant a spin-off. Streaming now on Netflix.
3/5
Under Paris Link
Streaming on Netflix
