These sharks may be big, and may be toothy, but they ain't great whites, man. What you're left with, then, is two folks slowly dying in the ocean. Granted, it doesn't last as long as The Passion Of The Christ, but it's still basically a case of waiting for the heart to stop. Mel Gibson kept us entertained by filling the screen with highly inventive gore. Kentis, by way of contrast, takes the more restrained route of having his characters bicker and squabble, and then one of them gets stung with a jellyfish.

The film has been hailed by certain sectors of the entertainment press as "Blair Witch with sharks", but to be all the honest in the world, The Duke can't for a moment see the reasoning behind these claims. The only similarity between this and the film about folks wander round in circles for forever, is that both are shot on video. It's a bit like saying The Shining is Gone With The Wind with hatchets, since both are shot on film and based on books.

2FBITS is undeniably enjoyable, something which seems as unlikely as waking up one morning to find a television growing in ones stomach, simply because the direction is so assured. Sometimes the film is so convincing, that even though you're pretty sure nothing outlandish will occur, you still grip the seat a little tighter when, say, the woman's floating on her back and a big grey motherfucker passes just underneath her.

At other times, though, it feels like a great idea stretched to breaking point. Tom Hanks On The Beach had one fella in one location for nearly two hours, and remained fascinating. Here, it depends on ones fondness for hearing two folks yelling at each other.

The film was shot for next to nothing using real sharks, instead of, say, CGI ones what aren't even scary when they're eating Sam Jackson, but whilst it may be admirable and worthy of a viewing, it's still far from terribly brilliant. The shots of the sharks swimming about the place, and the occasional skirmishes for to film some folks drinking cocktails, or a lizard or two, are all undeniably beautiful. It's just that, unlike the waters these folks are floating about in, it's all very shallow.

Commendable, then, and certainly watchable, even enthralling on occasion, but a fairly empty experience nonetheless.

A 3D sequel might help remedy matters, particularly if Dennis Quaid were to be involved.

Thanks folks.

The Duke resides at Mondo Irlando.

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