It’s been nearly ten years since Blake Lively spent the majority of The Shallows stranded on a rock while a hungry shark circled below. And while there have been countless shark movies attempting to ride the wave created by Jaws, director Jaume Collet-Serra’s survival thriller remains one of the better aquatic horrors of recent years — even if many viewers forgot about it the moment the credits rolled.
Apparently not forgotten enough though.
Because KILLER WHALE shamelessly lifts the entire blueprint and swaps out Bruce the shark for an angry orca, leaving two stranded friends trapped in the middle of the ocean while a killer whale circles beneath them looking to cause chaos.
Sadly, unlike The Shallows, this one sinks fast.
The film opens with two oddly disconnected sequences — first involving the whale itself, before switching to a personal tragedy suffered by aspiring musician Maddie (Virginia Gardner), whose loss leaves her struggling with hearing problems. It takes far too long to finally get Maddie and best friend Trish (Mel Jarnson) stranded on that infamous rock, and even once they arrive, the film mostly consists of endless shots of the whale circling while the pair exchange secrets and emotional baggage.
In a genre overflowing with ridiculous creature features — many of which are at least entertainingly stupid — KILLER WHALE somehow manages to feel strangely lifeless. Even the cheapest B-movies can still deliver a few guilty pleasures (Sharknado, we’re looking at you), but here the thrills are so shallow and the CGI so distractingly poor that you’ll likely spend more time laughing at the fake scenery than caring about what’s actually happening.
Then again… you’re really not missing much.
About the Author
