A group of college friends’ Thailand adventure turns deadly when they become trapped in submerged caves with a dangerous predator. As oxygen runs low, past conflicts emerge in their desperate fight for survival.
Chuck says:
If sharks could perform as the one in Jeff Wadlow’s The Devil’s Mouth does, if could open up a whole new avenue for them in regards to rehabilitating their image. That’s not to say the eating machine on screen here is a more family-friendly predator. Far from it. The young twenty-somethings standing in as the respective smorgasbord are munched up in a variety of gruesome ways. But this finned-killer is surprisingly mobile, navigating through tight passages, making whiplash turns and even soaring through the air. Were you to capture one of these and train it to do tricks, it would be a sensation.
Unfortunately, I cannot be that effusive about this surprisingly mundane thriller, one that wastes a great deal of potential as it opts for ridiculous action over character investment. Then again, as far as the bread-and-circuses crowd is concerned, they don’t watch to witness or experience any emotional engagement with the characters. They’re watching to see folks chomped up real good, which Wadlow delivers effectively within the movie’s PG-13 parameters.
The setting is Thailand and if this weren’t an animal-horror film, Mouth could be used by the country’s tourism board as Wadlow captures the environment in all its lush, tropical glory. Five post-college friends have gathered for one last hurrah before going off to start adulting. Greg and Adrienne (Gavin Casalegno and Tommi Rose) are in love, or it may just be lust, and have no problem rubbing their relationship in other’s faces. James (Nico Hiraga) has a good head and his shoulders but you wouldn’t think so if you were to base it solely on his choice of romantic partners. And while his partner Max (Lana Condor) is physically attractive, her sense of entitlement negates this every time she opens her mouth, makes a demand or employs a passive-aggressive tactic.
However, the one that acts as the glue for the group is Sara (Kathryn Newton). She has infinite patience, has a way of making rough situations smooth and thinks of others far more than she thinks of herself. Her intent is to revisit a site her late father favored, a cove known as the “Devil’s Mouth.” Part of a series of underwater caves, its unique structure makes it worth exploring.
However, something is amiss. Mighty storms have pushed a great many oceanic elements into this system that shouldn’t be there, a large shark with a great appetite being the one of greatest concern.
Screenwriters Aja Gabel and Myung Joh Wesner take their sweet time setting up the paper-thin dynamics between the characters. Our anticipation for the expected feeding frenzy is pushed past the breaking point, yet once the mayhem starts, it is consistently rendered. The shark is a CGI-creation so it can do things regular sharks can’t do. Lighting fast and able to leap several feet in the air, this thing is a wonder to behold. My favorite trick is when it jumps out of the water in effort to eat one of the many bats hanging for the cave ceiling.
Obviously, none of this is to be taken seriously and the fact that the caves are made of limestone and are easily destroyed by the rampaging monster adds to the fun. Yet, Mouth is that odd sort of movie that’s bad but not enough for it to be fun, ridiculous but not enough to inspire a drinking game. No, it commits the cardinal sin of being lazy and boring. With an acrobatic shark at your disposal, that’s quite a feat.
1 1/2 Stars
