Deep Blue Sea is, at times, an entertaining creature flick. Often it appealed to me in the same spirit of fun that Mimic and Anaconda. There's a certain joy in watching a monster movie that knows that it's ridiculous and revels in it, cheerfully supplying every narrow escape imaginable. Unfortunately, Deep Blue Sea falters too many times by being not only ridiculous but stupid.

In Anaconda, there are numerous loopholes and technicalities one can pick on (for example, why can the snakes only move as fast as the people they're outrunning, except when convenient?), but picking on them only robs yourself of a great ride and an appreciation of the movie's thick, meticulous atmosphere. Deep Blue Sea lacks Anaconda's atmosphere, and the loopholes it suffers from are too severe. When the problems extend to flaws with the actions of the characters who are trying to survive, it becomes difficult to keep one's disbelief suspended; the fun gives way to frustration when the characters meet their doom by doing stupid things and taking unnecessary risks. It also doesn't help when simple laws of physics are routinely broken. Voluntarily suspending one's disbelief for Anaconda means a rewarding thrill. Voluntarily suspending one's disbelief for Deep Blue Sea does give you that but at the cost of feeling stupid. It also doesn't help that the movie has moments of unpleasant gore that soil the potential for fun.