The Last Breath (2024) [review]
The Last Breath (2024) [review]
Possibly the dreariest shark movie I've ever seen.
Quick Review
Bad film.
A group of intensely unlikeable people go for a swim, in either shallow or deep water, act dumb and get eaten by sharks. The end.
I didn’t know this was a shark movie when picking it out. There was an image of some battleships and with a title like ‘The Last Breath’ I figured WW2 drama? Survivors get stuck on a sinking ship? Maybe more metaphorical with a great battle?
No. It’s set in the current day (2024) around a bunch of wannabe TikTok rejects diving a wreck. Plus sharks. Total letdown.
None of the characters are likable. Couldn’t care if they all died. Thankfully most of them do, as one would expect from a predictable shark movie. They make moronic decisions to force drama and the reason for them all meeting is tenuous at best.
Are they diving in 10 feet of water or 100? Seems like something which should be considered when picking filming locations. Continuity and whatnot.
Also, sharks are attracted to blood. I just asked the random tortoise cat who sits on the patch of grass outside my front door, even it nodded in agreement. Or went back to sleep. The film makers know this too, but ignore reality when it doesn’t fit the narrative. How very Hollywood.
The film is well shot. It’s just a shame there was no story, the characters sucked, the action was stale and entire experience was boring.
I feel like I’ve seen this movie a thousand times before and that’s with skipping large chunks of the filler segments.
If you’re in the mood for watching a good shark movie, smoke meth and watch ‘Deep Blue Sea’ (1999). It’s not that bad.
Overview
Genre(s): Suspense, Mild Gore
Location(s): On a boat somewhere hot (Caribbean? It doesn’t matter)
Writer(s): Andrew Prendergast, Nick Saltrese
Director(s): Joachim Hedén
Main actor(s):
No one you will recognise or remember later
Official Synopsis:
“A group of would-be treasure hunters bite off more than they can chew in this underwater white-knuckle thriller.
After a lifetime of research, the USS Charlotte has been unearthed on the ocean floor. Looking for adventure the group descends to the murky depths to investigate. There’s no knowing what awaits them within the walls of this World War II relic.
As events take a turn and the team finds themselves trapped in the darkness, their air supply sinks to dangerous levels and soon after, they find they are surrounded by sharks who have made the wreck their home”
Box Art:
In More Detail (no major spoilers)
No major spoilers here, but film structure and plot is analysed in detail. If in doubt, just watch the film.
This is Not the Movie I Was Looking For
I feel betrayed by the opening sequence. It depicts the end of a 1940’s naval battle. A couple of survivors are swimming around panicked, before being set upon by sharks. Could be interesting. Nazi sharks or something more banal?
The movie picks up in the current day (2024) with 2 losers on a boat struggling to stay afloat. Financially, not literally. There’s a salty old man, who operates some sort of possible salvage business, dragging around a Hemsworth wannabe.
One day (not) Hemsworth discovers a sunken wreck which, if you haven’t put the pieces together yet, was from the opening sequence. Is this a sequel? Not that I’m aware of. The opening seemed far more interesting.
Instead of watching heroes in a sunken battleship futilely repelling shark attacks until their ultimate demise, we’re forced to watch unlikeable prats intentionally throw their meaningless lives away for no reason whatsoever.
Why?
So far we have 2 guys on a boat. Thrilling.
More people turn up and they appear to know the younger of the boat crew. Not sure how. Dialog was dreary and there’s a disgustingly obnoxious guy who overwhelms every scene. These new kids on the block, of an indiscreet age but clearly wrong for their roles, have arrived to explore the sunken ship.
Sounds quite generic and boring so far? Yes. Without any spoilers, which don’t spoil anything, that’s basically the movie. Everyone dives down to the ship and sharks attack.
It plays out as one would expect.
There’s a Little More To It
The divers stupidly enter the uncharted, 80 year old rusted wreck and become lost. Why would anyone let them do this? Don’t ask.
There aren’t underwater Nazis or booby traps. Why weren’t there any traps come to think of it? You’ll need to read the spoiler section to understand why it would make sense.
Obvious tropes are at play; low on air, have to find breathable pockets and there are a few injuries. The only scene which I remember is a tortuously long underwater surgery. It’s torture porn and has no palce in any movie, let alone this confused mess.
It doesn’t feel claustrophobic or tense. A lot of the time it doesn’t even feel underwater. The mood isn’t quite right. Whether that’s due to the characters or photography, I’m uncertain. The cinematographer has some talent.
‘The Last Breath’ doesn’t have a genre. It’s not horror, suspense, drama or comedy. Everything is thrown at the camera and nothing sticks. Pick a lane and floor it.
Communication
For 2 people to converse underwater, they either need sign language or radios. ‘The Last Breath’ went with radios. Or did they?
Historically, in movies, underwater communication has been slightly muffled with breathing valve sound effect. Is it the respirator? I’m not too hot on diving terminology.
This movie has no audio effects. Communication is crystal clear as though everyone is sitting in a room together. Or sound studio. Perhaps technology has reached the point where this is the new reality and I’m just old?
Given the raggedy nature of the diving team, they would be using antiquated technology. It may seem nitpicking, but it really detracts from the immersion when you don’t believe they’re underwater let alone at sea.
Depth
I was going to put this in the spoilers section but it’s not spoiling anything!
Below is an image of the depth at which the ship was found. Looks to be about 20 feet at most…
…so why do they later state a pause is necessary when halfway to the surface? I could literally take a breath, dive in, touch the seabed, rise to the surface and still hold my breath for another 60 seconds. This isn’t ‘The Abyss’ (1989).
Let’s remember they’re also being chased by sharks. Maybe make the wreck a little deeper? It would help the believability given this is a ship that others have searched for. A ship which was in 20 feet of water and seen with the naked eye. Come on.
I’m in a good mood, for me, so I could accept that they venture deep in to the bowels of the ship. Maybe down to 40 feet? Still no reason to pause on the way up while being chased by sharks. It’s not like they’ve been down there for months. They are not going to die. Seriously. They will not die.
<I went away and did some research>
Turns out that my information is a little out of date. Sort of. I haven’t surfed in 20 years, things change. Well people do. They become weaker. I remember 60 feet per minute being the ideal ascent rate. Turns out snowflakes today can’t even handle that and it’s been reduced to 30. Likely because it’s a better frame rate for TikTok.
So I guess the snowflakes diverse today could die from lack of social media if ascending too fast. Real men won’t. Pathetic.
I Skipped A Lot of the Movie
I’m reasonably confident in saying there’s more to the story that I didn’t pick up on. I skipped large chunks of it. There’s so much more to do in life, so many better films to watch, than something which fills the time. That’s what ‘The Last Breath’ feels like. It’s something to partake in while avoiding doing anything better. I don’t have time to waste.
I powered through the first 30 minutes unadulterated. Not going on my CV but I consider it an achievement. However, the dialog was so dull that I couldn’t bare it anymore. When I hit the skip button it jumps the movie 10 seconds. I forget how many times I did this, but time flew by and I still knew what was going on.
Something, something, someone’s feelings? If I hate every character then I don’t care about their backstory or survival. When they die my only thought is “OK that person died, so their partner will also die and that other couple are going to survive”. It’s that kind of movie.
Something, something, they’re still in what appears to be the same room and everyone is alive. Glad I skipped those 10 minutes of filler.
Someone cuts their leg. That’s… a thing.
Perhaps the old man on the boat was a survivor of the sunken ship? Son of a survivor? Maybe he sunk it and spent the last few decades searching for redemption? From what I can tell he’s just an old guy trying to make some money. Oh.
Why even have the opening sequence then? Cost quite a bit to produce and added nothing to the story. Captain Exposition could have told me the story and I would have believed him, if he had the screen presence to keep me engaged. Which I don’t believe he could pull off.
We live in a world where every story has been told many times before. Usually better. To succeed today a film needs complexities; twists, unexpected events, inappropriate moments, false endings. A movie where people go diving and get eaten by sharks doesn’t cut it in the current year.
The sharks were well animated. Despite moving far too fast and seemingly having an evil vendetta. Put a pentagram on them and say they’re from hell! Can’t make the movie any worse.
‘Hell Sharks’ (unknown year, I haven’t written it yet). I’m copyrighting that.
Things I Hate in Movies…
This film does have at least 1 torture porn gore segment. I may have inadvertently skipped more. Underwater surgery. Genius this is not.
This Could Save Your Life
If you’re ever attacked by a shark, avoid the teeth and punch it in the nose. I’ve seen videos of divers and aquarium workers doing it. Works.
Also…
LISTEN TO THE EXPERIENCED DIVER TELLING YOU NOT TO DO THAT.
Don’t Read This Section!
I’m not covering the entire movie and taking away potential earnings. This is an area for parts of the review which may ruin the viewing experience, not for disclosing every plot point.
Booby Traps
The film accidentally told us about a much more interesting story that we didn’t get to see; the ship was sunk but not fully evacuated.
We saw sharks attacking survivors on the surface, but what about inside the ship? That’s a much better story. Injured veterans trying to escape a partially flooded ship, fighting off sharks only to reach the surface and find there’s no hope of rescue. Or are rescued by the enemy?
That’s how simple it is to come up with an original idea. Granted the budget would need to be larger, but not by much given the amount invested in this movie. It doesn’t feel cheap.
OK, let’s not make that movie but stick with the premise. Perhaps those events happened, even though we don’t see them, with the soldiers setting traps for the sharks which were never triggered. Now there’s an additional hazard to navigate for the divers. Or possible weapon against the sharks?
Did that happen in ‘The Last Breath’? It could have been in a section I skipped. From what I saw, it’s doubtful the there was that much creativity involved.
Sharks Go After Blood
This is not a hard concept or something that can be questioned. It’s a fact. Sharks are animals. They have limited learning capabilities, with most of their actions being reactionary and instinctive.
When a shark finds blood, it heads towards the source. They even mentioned this in the movie. At least twice.
1 person is bleeding heavily to the point it’s saturating the water. Another person is not bleeding at all. Here’s a quote…
“I’m going to push you to the surface and draw the shark away from you”
What a hero. The person bleeding knows they’re dead either way, so sacrifices themself to the shark.
Accept that’s not what happened. The bleeding person is pushed to the surface while the healthy individual lures the shark away. By swimming.
It makes no sense.
…but it does make sense. The person bleeding is a man and his saviour is a wamon. Stunning and brave.
I guess the creators were afraid of copying ‘Deep Blue Sea’ (1999) where Saffron Burrows (a woman, a 10 woman) is bleeding and draws the shark away from his man flesh craving.
Then the old man gets eaten for no reason to save the wamon. The only ship captain in the Caribbean to not have a harpoon gun. What a prat. Plenty of real women in the world who need saving.
Ending
They sail from the Caribbean to New York? In that shitty boat? Why would anyone leave the Caribbean to go to New York?
This final scene summaries the entire movie for me; deluded shit. You’re going to get a lot of work selling diving tours in New York?
Perhaps they’ve decided to switch careers? Maybe they’re going to become professional thieves and homeless. Maybe they can black themselves up then beat women and the elderly consequence free? Money in that. Apparently.
Only clueless Hollywood low IQ’s would think anyone would willingly swap a laid back life in the Caribbean for a life of poverty, destitution and perpetual victim hood in New York.
