NO WAY UP (2024)

Genre: Thriller
Director: Claudio Fäh
Cast: Sophie Mcintosh, Colm Meaney, Phyllis Logan, Will Attenborough, Jeremias Amoore, Grace Nettle, Manuel Pacific
Runtime: 1 hr 31 mins
Rating: NC16 (Some Coarse Language and Disturbing Scenes)
Released By: Shaw Organisation
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 18 January 2024

Synopsis: Ava (Sophie Mcintosh), the daughter of the Governor of California, is hoping for a peaceful getaway with friends in the resort town of Cabo, Mexico – with her faithful minder Brandon (Colm Meaney) in tow. But when the plane crashes in the Pacific Ocean and comes to rest on the edge of an underwater ravine, Ava and a handful of survivors, including a former army nurse, Mardy (Phyllis Logan), and her granddaughter, Rosa (Grace Nettle), are trapped in the airlocked cabin. Against the odds, Ava must fend for herself, contend with bloodthirsty sharks, and find the courage to step up and lead the crash survivors to safety.

Movie Review:

From the producer of 47 Meters Down comes No Way Up, a survival thriller that combines both disaster and shark attack into a one boring affair. Kind of unbelievable given the potential of a cheesy dumb entertaining movie.

With pressing time for character development, we are shortly introduced to Ava (Sophie Mcintosh), her boyfriend Jed (Jeremias Amoore), their jerk of a friend, Kyle (Will Attenborough) and Ava’s personal bodyguard, Brandon (Cole Meaney). She is the daughter of a Governor of California after all.

Adding to the shark’s selection of food as well is gay flight crew member, Danilo (Manuel Pacific), a young British girl, Rosa (Grace Nettle) and her grandma, an ex-British nurse, Mardy (Phyllis Logan).

Expectedly, the plane they are on crashes shortly after some dumb birds fly into the engine. The other big bird hits the water and sinks deep down. Eventually, our small group of survivors manage to hurdle at the back of the plane in a small confined area hoping to be rescue. What they didn’t know is hungry sharks are already lurking around looking for their supper.

For a slim runtime of 91 minutes, No Way Up struggles to stay afloat (pun intended). The thrills on the whole are poorly conceived especially with the CGI sharks appearing for a grand total of probably 10 seconds. The attacks come fast and furious in a way that it’s hard to comprehend the entire carnage. Perhaps it’s to hide the crappy CGI creature thus cutting down on the costs or director Claudio Fah has no idea to come up with an effective one. However, a couple of cheap jump scares and excellent sound effects help to keep audiences awake.

The various characters are typical stereotypes. The smart alec who turned up to be a coward. The bravest and most gripping character somehow has the shortest screentime. The old folk who sacrificed for the love one and the pampered girl who happens to be the most gung-ho of all. No one in this sluggishly paced thriller makes the movie any interesting unfortunately.

Undoubtedly, there’s no reason to catch this on the big screens. Well, Snakes On A Plane is silly but fun. The Shallows has only one actress and a shark and it’s a menacing affair from start to finish. No Way Up has nothing on the plate to make it a worthy bloody affair.

Movie Rating:

(No Way Up ranks extreme low for a shark-killer movie)

Review by Linus Tee