We've talked about this before.
Nobody wants to watch an obnoxious film character mistreat a flight crew.
I don't care if said awful passenger and exhausted flight attendant become friends after working together to survive a plane crash and several shark attacks. We. Don't. Want. This.
But a plane crash + shark attack movie? I'll allow it.
Quick Plot: Ava, the college-aged daughter of a governor, is heading to Cabo with boyfriend Jed, insufferable pal Kyle, and bodyguard Brandon (I can't explain why, but "bodyguard Brandon" sounds incredibly off to my ears). Also on their half-full flight is a happily married couple escorting their grandaughter Rosa and her teddy bear Mr. Tibbs, and the aforementioned putupon flight attendant Danilo.
Yes, there are others in the air, but they're all going to die very quickly in a plane crash that feels very indebted to Alive.
The plane lands deep in the ocean but follows the The Concord...Airport '79. science of positioning itself in an air pocket. The survivors are temporarily relieved at their luck, but know their oxygen supply is limited, their structural integrity questionable, and most upsetting, some shark attacks imminent.
That's a great idea for a movie. The final product doesn't quite deserve it, but 90 minutes of being trapped underwater with broken limbs and hungry tiger sharks can't not be entertaining enough.
Written by Andy Mayson (he of many financial officer credits before shifting to producer credits for the related 47 Meters Down) and directed by Hollow Man II's Claudio Fah, No Way Up seems to also follow the Airport school of near incompetence in its first act--ALWAYS SET IN AN AIRPORT--before finding its feet once the plane gets moving. The first twenty minutes saw my finger hover over the 'stop' button on my remote thinking, "I have better things to do with my life than watch mediocre actors deliver genuinely bad dialogue."
Thankfully, No Way Up improves immensely once its action kicks in. The plane crash is brutal, the looming sharks cheekily intimidating, and the constant threat of suffocation (more in theory than onscreen). Its (unfortunate) central trio of young characters range from bland to irritating, but Phyllis Logan, Grace Nettle, and Manuel Pacific give sympathetic performances that helped keep me somewhat emotionally invested, even if I was still mostly on the side of the tiger sharks.
High Points
With its brisk running time, No Way Up wisely keeps itself moving. For that we should all be thankful
Low Points
I understand it's a rule of movie young people that every friend group includes one obnoxious asshole, but that doesn't ever mean it's needed or entertaining
Lessons Learned
Never have breakfast at a burger joint with a fitness-obsessed coworker
Sharks hate nothing more than bubbles
Extra fries and exercise are not interchangeable
Rent/Bury/Buy
No Way Up isn't a very good movie, but once it gets going, it mostly delivers exactly what you need from this genre (plane crash + shark, obviously). It's currently on Shudder.
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