Starring: Paul Walker, Jessica Alba, Scott Caan, Ashley Scott, Josh Brolin, James Frain
Review: Divers Sam (Jessica Alba) and Jared (Paul Walker) love life in the Bahamas. But when friends Bryce (Scott Caan) and Amanda (Ashley Scott) visit, the couple take them on a treasure-hunting trip, where they discover more than they bargained for: a downed airplane full of cocaine alongside a famous shipwreck. Unknown to Sam and Jared, Bryce makes a fatal mistake and decides to sell the cocaine -- which angers a group of drug dealers, who are now in hot pursuit of the divers.
Into the Blue is the quintessential good bad movie. It's cheesy and predictable. The first third of the movie is brimming with scenes that induce eye rolling and awkward laughs. With that said, this film eventually picks up steam, and really evolves into an entertaining couple of hours. Take attractive young stars, outfit them in skimpy bathing suits, and toss them "into the blue." Most of the film is shot underwater, but if I'm being completely honest, the last act really excels with a plethora of entertaining underwater action scenes. Underwater combat, underwater shootouts, underwater explosions, and no shortage of shark attacks make this movie one that is surprisingly entertaining. How can you turn a blind eye to a movie circling around buried treasure and volatile drug kingpins? Not to mention, a lot of the underwater scenes are beautifully shot.
Into the Blue won't win any awards for it's acting or screenplay, and my expectations going in were as low as they possibly could be. But that said, I was pleasantly surprised by the entertainment value here. Don't judge a book by its cover. Give this movie a shot, and you might find that this film is well worth your time.
Fun Fact: Second time Paul Walker and Scott Caan have worked together. Varsity Blues is the first. This is also the second time Jessica Alba and Ashley Scott have worked together, the first time being the Fox sci-fi series Dark Angel.