Matthew D
A bikini-clad Halle Berry swims into deadly waters with sharks!
Blue Crush and Into the Blue director John Stockwell proves he was the master of aquatic films in this era. His thoroughly underrated watery adventure drama Dark Tide (2012) is a wonderful film. He captures the natural beauty of the Cape of South Africa with breathtaking underwater photography. The ocean, seals, penguins, whales, dolphins, and sharks are lovely to watch. It’s a beautiful movie with great characters, strong acting, cute animals, and exquisite scenery. It’s unthinkable that movies used to look this amazing all the time. Dark Tide is awesome and dearly underrated to me.
Director John Stockwell remains an underrated director after three fabulous water movies with Blue Crush, Into the Blue, and Dark Tide. I don’t believe that Dark Tide deserved to be panned by critics and audiences. It aged well and features my favorite Halle Berry acting performance. She’s very moving and compelling as the scuba diving heroine, who has to contend with great white sharks attacking idiotic tourists, all while dealing with her trauma from a friend killed by a shark.
Writers Ronnie Christensen and Amy Sorlie create neat characters from Halle’s hesitant heroine, who doesn’t want to swim in open waters with sharks again to the foolish tourists desperate to swim with great white sharks. There’s also her estranged husband, who greedily pushes her to dive with the sharks during the dangerous mating season for the sharks. It’s a grand warning against capitalism, greed, and humanity’s arrogance into thinking they can control sharks and nature. I found it thrilling and heartfelt. I hope more people appreciate Dark Tide one day.
Halle Berry is fabulous as the lovely, smart, and concerned diving expert Kate Mathieson. Berry speaks both English and some South African dialect too with a real tenderness. She comes across as intelligent, worried, calm, innovative, and brave as she must dive with the sharks. She feels in the moment and earnest at all times. I genuinely would rank Halle Berry in Dark Tide as her strongest dramatic acting performance that I’ve seen. She is captivating and realistic for all 113 minutes of Dark Tide.
Olivier Martinez is very good as Kate’s estranged and underhanded husband Jeff Mathieson. He gets aggressive, but can be very engaging and romantic opposite Halle Berry. He’s got real romantic chemistry with Halle Berry as there’s definitely tension there. It’s neat they got married right after this movie. His speaking voice reminds me of Jean-Claude Van Damme. Mark Elderkin is fun as the goofy boat driver Tommy Phillips. Sizwe Msutu is very likable and kind in the opener as Themba. Thoko Ntshinga is a delight to watch as Kate’s best friend Zukie.
Ralph Brown is excellent as the total jerk William Brady, who is willing to pay a large sum to swim in open waters with sharks outside of the protective cage. He’s confrontational and cruel to anyone near him. He’s a walking embodiment of arrogance and ego. Luke Tyler is pleasant as the nervous son Luke Brady, constantly bullied by his abrasive and toxic father. Casting directors Colin Jones and Gail Stevens cast a solid ensemble to star alongside the effervescent Halle Berry.
Editor Andrew MacRitchie cuts to every adorable sea creature nearby from seals to seaweed. I could clearly follow each swimmer in the underwater sequences even during the shark attacks. Cinematographer Jean-François Hensgens captures some of the most beautiful underwater scenes ever shot for Dark Tide. All the wide shots of False Bay, Seal Island, and Shark Alley are stunning. His shots of vast ocean expanses and deep waters look mesmerizing. The careful close-ups let us know who is who for a coherent viewing even underwater. There’s a lot of neat talk of framing photos for the best wildlife photography to see the sharks. The vivid bright lighting from Ashraf Benjamin and Wayne Shields looks incredible too. The real sharks look amazing and the CGI sharks thrashing and biting still look believable.
Composer Mark Sayfritz’s film score is eerie and always feels foreboding. The movie feels prescient about a rich father sadly dragging his son along for a deadly sea voyage. Sound designers Andrea King, Jack Stew, Steve Little, Adam Mendez, Simon Rice, Harry Barnes, Martin Cantwell, and Robert Farr capture every person paddling, diving, shark wadding, fin emerging in the water, to huge waves crashing. All the ambient noises are fantastic, adding to the atmosphere. Costume designer Moira Anne Meyer gives Halle Berry sexy bikinis and cool scuba diving gear. All the wetsuits are neat. Makeup artists Norma Hill-Patton, Lynda Armstrong, and Raine Edwards give Halle the cutest pixie haircut.
Overall, Dark Tide is a beautiful looking film with Halle Berry’s finest acting ever. She’s enthralling and raw. I hope audiences get to see the oceanic views here in Dark Tide.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
10/23/24
Full Review
Alan g
What a waste of Halle Berry. No amount of her can save this loser of a movie.
Rated 1/5 Stars •
Rated 1 out of 5 stars
07/12/24
Full Review
Cristian s
Mala y aburrida. Historia plana y lineal.. De hecho toda la trama se centra en la superación del trauma del personaje de Halle Berry y hasta eso hicieron mal, de repente deja atrás su miedo si pero a través de lo que parece ser un brote psicótico. Tiene algún plano de paisaje lindo pero ni así logra ser llevadera.
Rated 1.5/5 Stars •
Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars
11/01/23
Full Review
Stephen C
This has everything you could want in a decent film: gorgeous cinematography, plausible drama, good acting, and a solid plot. It's not an Oscar-winner; it is slow in the beginning, and the climax when the boat sinks is a bit disjointed. But who cares? It was enjoyable, and if nothing else a lesson on why NOT to touch sharks!
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
06/19/23
Full Review
Jerod S
Dark Tide is a slow moving shark film with no teeth. When Halle loses a teammate to a shark attack, you know she'll end up back in the water. But the story that takes her there is a bore.
Rated 2/5 Stars •
Rated 2 out of 5 stars
05/24/23
Full Review
Fbio S
It's OK. Is not a great movie but is not a terrible movie.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
01/02/23
Full Review
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