Welcome to Knockout Horror. It’s summer so I suppose I should be covering horror movies that fit the season. As it stands, however, I have actually been spending my time catching up on horror I have missed. With that in mind, today we are taking a look at shark movie No Way Up from 2024. Now you may expect sun, sand, bikinis and six packs in this one but, I am afraid, you will be disappointed. Most of this movie takes place under the ocean in a crashed plane.
The story follows a collection of random people taking a journey over the sea in an airplane. The group consists of a pair of grandparents and their granddaughter, air stewards, and the daughter of a politician along with her boyfriend and security detail. After take off, things seem to be going swimmingly when, all of a sudden, the aircraft collides with birds. Sending it plunging into the ocean where the sea itself proves to be the least of their worries.
Another Dull Shark Movie
Obligatory “this is more of a thriller than a horror”. It’s the same with almost all shark movies. I find these types of films tend to appeal to horror fans as well as action fans, though, so whatever. I suppose this would be best classed as a survival movie as the majority of the time spent with our cast of characters focuses on their efforts to not drown or become shark bait.
The plane has ended up in the ocean but, luckily, the remaining survivors have managed to make their way to an air pocket. Nice and dry, they assume that it is just a matter of time before they are rescued. Little do they realise that they are not alone. And that sharks have entered the plane’s wreckage to chow down on the corpses of their loved ones.
It’s formulaic stuff outside of the somewhat unique scenario. At least it isn’t a sinking boat for a change but the location is, pretty much, the only thing about No Way Up that stands out. Sure, it presents a few unique scenarios and a few new creative ways for people to be eaten. But this is nothing more than a run-of-the-mill boring shark flick with limited action and limited reasons to stage engaged.
A Boring Cast
The cast here is fairly boring. You have your “definitely going to survive” characters and a few that you know are only there to be eaten. But nobody really stands out. Rosa (Grace Nettle) is the adorable little girl who loves her grandparents and still carries a teddy bear around everywhere she goes. Something that comes up repeatedly as if girls are, apparently, supposed to grow out of plushies. Tell that to my fiancée who has dozens. If it makes you happy and it isn’t harming anyone keep on doing it.
The charming grandparents, who have been together since sharks first roamed the ocean, bring a comforting, homely, touch. While the politician’s daughter Ava (Sophie McIntosh) acts as the somewhat aloof, “secretly has a heart of gold” character who will definitely learn from the experience. Everyone else is either a prick or completely useless. Oh except the charming air steward Danilo (Manuel Pacific).
Like I said, typical shark movie stuff. Acting ranges from competent to absolutely awful, as you might expect. Grace Nettle stood out as Rosa, as did Phyllis Logan as her Nana Mardy. Jeremias Amoore struggles heartily throughout. Expect a lot of non-Americans doing American accents, as well. Yay! Dialogue is, occasionally, laughably bad. This is a very rough script, in parts.
Formulaic and Predictable
Everything you might expect from a shark movie is included here. Well, with the exception of lots of shark footage. It’s clear that the budget issues have given way to a “less is more” approach. The effects are not a strong point and many of the attacks and violence are implied rather than shown. Some of the practical work is pretty decent with some suitably nasty looking wounds.
This is one of those movies where you can almost predict the order of character death. Everything is projected tremendously and there aren’t a great deal of surprises. The claustrophobic nature of the air pocket the characters are in restricts the film somewhat. Limiting the opportunity for kills and limiting the possibility for surprises. There’s a tiny bit of tension here and there and the rather stupid reasons for people to keep getting back in the water do increase the odds a little. But not in a way that elevates No Way Up above most other low budget shark flicks.
On the plus side, there’s some nice cinematography in parts. Pacing is okay with the action getting started fairly early into the movie’s runtime after a small amount of backstory establishing. I enjoyed some of the shots. I particularly liked the underwater scenes and there was some nice use of LED lighting that provided some interesting visuals. It doesn’t look quite as low budget as I assume it is. The dynamic between the grandparents and their granddaughter was quite refreshing, as well. It’s nice to see a young girl in a movie that isn’t being completely obnoxious.
Should You Watch No Way Up?
If you love shark movies and are tolerant of some of the usual crap that comes along with them, then yes you should watch No Way Up. It might make for a fun popcorn movie with the family, as well. Something to throw on on a Sunday night with some snacks. It’s just very formulaic, predictable, and not all that interesting. Some of the acting is terrible and the dialogue is very poor but there are worse shark movies out there. It is just very ordinary.