No Way Up

No-Way-Up
No Way Up

No Way Up introduces a shark-themed horror which is said to be a new twist. Sadly, a stronger motion picture as a thriller fails more often than succeeds. The focus of the film is a brazen rip-off of Final Destination which is an effective sequence of slaughter, but that also disappoints. There are almost limitless bad decisions that prevent No Way Up’s chance at greatness such as character development only for certain characters to not follow through. But sharks do make it into a plane on No Way Up, which is fine as the film is happy to wallow in its self-ordinariness rather than capitalize on this tacky gimmick.

Ava, the daughter of a billionaire, is on her way to Mexico with her boyfriend Jed, his friend Kyle, and her bodyguard Brandon. Sadly, the group is involved in a plane crash. As grace would have it, Ava and her party survived the plane crash but everyone else thrashing in the remains of the wrecked plane is fighting for their lives, and the painted background sharks are stuffing their faces in the wreckage trying to turn the plane into a buffet. The story builds up nicely in the beginning, but as it unfolds, the viewers are not given any major surprises and originality, thus the movie ends up being mediocre at best.

It would have been a blast had it dialed the camp a bit but for the movie with such a plot, No Way Up is brutally dark. There’s barely anything that is not dull in this film. The acting was lackluster and uneven,and so was the direction with the screenplay being quite easily forgettable. Anything that could have been interesting is discarded very early, which probably is why the audience is never invested in the film at all.

Most of the death scenes lack gore and depth. In comparison, the plane crash in No Way Up was creatively the most interesting sequence, but nonetheless a poor attempt at realism. There is practically no humor in No Way Up, and the few jokes insult the audience’s intelligence. From the set of characters, or rather the only other two characters who hardly bear any characteristics apart from Brandon who only appears in the first act, there is virtually no resentment. For the majority of the runtime, the viewers of the movie are bored as a result of Brandon’s long absence from the screen. This is quite an unfortunate sentiment, owing to the fact that Brandon’s character is the most comprehensively developed in the opening sequence of the film. It was therefore quite surprising when the filmmakers decided to take him out; it was almost like the budget couldn’t afford Meaney. The film almost revolves around Brandon who barely makes it halfway through the film. His absence from the plot denies the viewers the chance to engage with the plot fully. There is a belief that given a lot of training and survival skills, he would have made a great bodyguard, and therefore many would think of him as the lead character. But that appears to be something of a red herring. His unexpected demise is simply detrimental to the film’s story.

Joyfully, Nana (Phyllis Logan) stays in the movie long enough to portray her character of a strong-willed grandmother. Phyllis Logan manages to give everything to an otherwise weak script and is probably the best thing No Way Up has to offer. But, the performances from Sophie McIntosh and Darcy Attenborough (Ava and Kyle respectively) do not offer the same bar. McIntosh, the spearhead of the film, is competent but fails to provide the right amount of emotion that is required in the lead role of this film. As a victim of a non-existent character, Attenborough is as ineffectual as a three-letter word, and so is Amoore.

There is so little substance in No Way Up that by the end of it, it is difficult to even care about what happens. There is a lot of expectation build-up surrounding Ava’s rich father, but it amounts to nothing. Nana still gives the best performance, even if she is woefully underwritten. She is a grandmother who has lost her husband and will go to any lengths to safeguard her granddaughter; that’s pretty much all there is. When characters do die, and they seem to die with alarming frequency, the audience feels cheated as there has been little or no character development of that person. One can’t be too harsh on No Way Up and state that it is dull. After more than a couple of beers, it could make for a nice popcorn film, although it will probably be forgotten by most after a night out. It does have some pleasant gory scenes, but nothing that would shock audiences in the way that another, and more frantic, fish-attack story, Piranha 3D, would. No Way Up is absurdly predictable and is not unique in any way from what most of the genre fans have already come across. The kills are swift, though had they been more brutal, No Way Up might be standing out more. The shark shooting is fun, but it does not do or reveal anything new.

As things stand today, No Way Up meets the bare minimums required for any film of this genre but does little else in terms of success.

Andy Mason’s No Way Up (the screenplay for the film) should, in a way, remain one of the most respected works in the film industry. The work of Claudio Fäh provides many moments that would add to the epicness of a film, though none would be wowing. Now about the other aspects of the film and that including direction, acting, cinematography, etc – B for them all with a C for impact. The stakes are simply made too low and as a result, that serves to bring the entire movie down. As confirmed by the title, No Way Up is about people who have no choice but to fight their way out, but not much else. The film came, did not overstay its 90-minute welcome, and left. In other words, No Way Up had little else to go off in terms of excitement.

There are far too many possibilities and avenues that lie dormant and as such the film lacks depth and proper development. Overall, the final verdict on No Way Up is moderately bland and mediocre, yet still makes for an appealing sit without creating any sort of lasting impression.

Just like the 47 Meters Down movies, No Way Up was also produced by the same producers. It seemed that the producers were trying to impose the same concept as the above episode by capturing survivors in a natural prison encased by water and sharks. In this regard, it still would have been better if No Way Up did not try to copy anything for instance the rest of history. Those who watched 47 Meters Down or watched any shark movie for that matter would not care at all about No Way Up even if it put sharks in a plane for instance. No Way Up attempted to fuse such an attacking style to a modern attacking style of a shark movie like 47 Meters Down with the impact of the first in the Final Destination franchise, however the result seems to be quite the opposite. The film contains more gore than 47 Meters Down, yet it does not stand out enough in the context of an R-rated film.

No Way Up wants to have several tricks on its wow factor, but chooses instead to be another run-of-the-mill shark thriller that brings nothing new to the mix. The disaster element that the story of Isabel hurricanes , No Way Up is weak but after that, the movie goes down as if it is going into reserved land. People may sit through hours of No Way Up, waiting for some form of entertainment but will only be appalled by how lukewarm a shark attack movie has become. One would expect a film set in tight blue waters, No Way Up to zoom in lens for captivating images. No Way Up cannot be done with too much brightness and is devoid of visuals of many underwater organisms. The shark graphics that some may seem impressive, but no full shot lasts long enough to have a proper shark scene. To add insult to injury, sharks do not appear to be ruthless creatures that drives the allurement, making No Way Up even more ludicrous. There are few attractive underwater images, some of them are beautiful but the frequency is too low to say No Way Up offered aesthetically pleasing experience.

Editing of the film, like all the other aspects, is pramatic too, the soundtrack is common and bearable almost to the point of being forgettable.

The scenario of No Way Up has its share of flaws but overall, if you are not expecting to be amazed, it makes for an entertaining watch. No Way Up includes a dramatic airplane disaster as well as hungry sharks in the sunken airplane and the surviving crew members who were witnesses of both, but not much else. For those viewers who feel like sitting down to a picture that doesn’t require much thought and relieves one with some action involving sharks, No Way Up will be to their taste. It is not bad, it is just so bland that at times it is hard to sit through. No Way Up has some promise, till a viewer has to go through dull shark-in-a-pool of a movie. A viewer might have imagined it to be very spectacular but No Way Up just lacks the concept for such enthusiasm and, as for the rest, it lacks creativity or a fitting outlandish twist for the plot developments to feel as fresh as it could. The characters are left to be shadows of themselves and the storyline is classic and seems backdated almost. It is not generous to say that No Way Up is a high volume movie; one cannot remember a single incident from it. No Way Up is the typical shark frenzy with the most standard opening for almost any generous imaginary viewer.

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