Just perfect...

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

I rented Sharkwater expecting an environmentally conscious documentary with the emphasis largely on the sharks and their plight. I expected calm reasoning and impassioned calls for defending an endangered species. Instead, I got an ideological screed which actually hurt the reputation of the environmental movement.The film traces the activities of Rob Stewart and his activism on behalf of endangered sharks. The film has some beautiful shark photography, and makes a good argument that we should not see sharks as a danger, but as a vital part of the ecosystem.However, the movie falters when it moves to examine the activities of Stewart and Paul Watson, with whom he has teamed up to defend the sharks. The first troubling sign is when we see the boat they are using for its activities. It has markings on it to list the whaling and fishing boats it has sunk. Stewart depicts Watson and his cohorts in the Sea Shepherd Society as men of action. In fact, they seem disturbingly close to terrorists.This impression is confirmed when the boat attacks a fishing boat that is engaged in illegal sharking. Although Watson and his crew claim to have gotten the go ahead from the Costa Rican government, their actions border on outright terrorism, ramming the much smaller fishing vessel. Their actions at this point create a serious risk of injury and death for the fishing crew, and eliminate all sympathy for Stewart and his cohorts.The film asserts that the fishing crew is funded by the Asian mafia, and that subsequent legal prosecution of Watson and his crew is a result of legal corruption. This ignores the fact that they were ramming a smaller ship. Even if they did so to enforce the law, this simply makes them vigilantes.Furthermore, Stewart's attitude towards sharks at times reminds one of Timothy Treadwell. Even if they are not man-eating monstrosities, they are wild animals that need to be treated with respect. At the beginning of the film, we see Stewart grabbing and basically hugging a shark, holding it in place for over a minute. He is lucky the shark did not turn and bite him in self defense.I turned this film off roughly halfway through in disgust. It may have gotten better, but I highly doubt it.

Just to make it clear: yes, I think that this film tells an important story but am I the only one who had the feeling that this film is mostly about it's director? There are so many scenes where we just see him sitting, standing or filming somewhere and ... well, he also likes to be filmed without a T-Shirt. Specially the whole sequence about him in hospital and that he might loose his leg. It pretty much seems like a chance to expand the whole film to feature film lenght and be seen even more on screen (without a T-Shirt). Much seemed to be staged or shot separately and then cut together. My opinion: important content but way too much Rob Stewart in it.

This movie should be re-edited, get a new narrator, and get more solid facts with more respected biologists like Canada's, David Suzuki. Why didn't they get Doctor Suzuki to narrate? He is well know and respected world wide and fully supports animal rights. He may have even donated his time, if they approached him, but I don't think he would agree with most of the movies ethics or lack of. I really want to know, "What did Dr. David Suzuki think of this movie?" I fully understand that there is a serious issue regarding to people killing off sharks.. I believe that they should be left alone like any other animal unless they provide some sort of medical cure, but they do not as far as I know. This movie tries to jump on the "Environmental Band Wagon". It was poor done and reminds me of one of my students handing in a book report for a book they had skimmed the night before. It is very vague and amateurish. Not to mention the lack of ethics on their part. They would rather ram another vessel and risk killing human beings, to save a few sharks. They didn't have any backing from any government to do so. This is why they were being arrested and charged for several counts of attempt of murder. If you see a dog being beaten on the street and decide that it is appropriate to beat the dog owner with a baseball bat….you will be arrested and you will be charged with either aggravated assault or attempt of murder.Another thing that bothered me was when the photographer had to be hospitalized because he had a "Flesh Eating Disease", they didn't show the his leg and to movie makers that would have been the "Money Shot". So why didn't they show his leg? I think that this drama was invented to given the narrator more depth and to prove that he was risking his life to save the sharks. In fact, he did very little to save the sharks. The Canadian Movie Production Company "Sharkwater Productions" deserves most of the credit The photographer took photos and film footage and that was about it.Oh yes…we did get to see him swim around in a skin tight bathing suite for the last have hour of the movie….What was that all about? Where they going for the female/gay demographic?

Blame it on its many teeth, giving it a perception that it can cut through flesh and bone. And no thanks to movies like Jaws, which has set that perception in stone that sharks are extremely dangerous creatures that have one mission, and that's to eradicate human swimmers from the sea. How do you try and convince what is generally "accepted truths" by the masses? You go at it small, with persistence, that fire in the belly to fuel your crusade in re-educating the masses, and the best example being yourself taking the plunge to try and set things right, one step at a time.That's what Rob Stewart did, in trying to change the incorrect mindsets we have of sharks, by demonstrating to us how they are actually more afraid of us, and making a documentary film out of it to spread the good message. Don't let the poster fool you into thinking it's a fictional, narrative film. It's a documentary, and like most documentaries, it has an agenda to cover. Here, Stewart's agenda is simple, to talk about shark conservation, and the importance of the ocean ecosystem. Yes, it's a myriad of topics that can spiral out of control, but strangely enough, the key points are all presented in a compelling manner, against very beautiful underwater images of marine life, the very life he is seeking, on the bigger picture, to try and save.Naturally, one doesn't talk about saving the sharks without touching on the demand side of things, and that is the perceived value of a delicacy called the Shark's Fin Soup, which is a staple in any self-respecting Chinese restaurant. While the usual illegal poaching through long lining and footage of skinning are aimed to shock an audience into the cruelty of the way the sharks are destroyed, the biggest impact made here are the frivolous statements given by the chairman of a prominent brand of canned shark's fin soup. You will definitely chuckle at his arguments, or the lack thereof in the intelligence department, as he's made to look quite animated, and not in good light, deliberately of course.Some might feel that the movie did seem a little like an ego-trip for Rob Stewart, with himself being featured quite prominently in many scenes, but I thought it's a given because it is a trip along a journey he's bringing us, and that's why we see some of the inherent risks involved in the many conservationists efforts as they go out to try and stop, with limited budget and resources, the perennial problem of trying to stem out the supply side of things. Naturally, it's never easy with the illegal trade, as shady corporations, characters and corrupt governments are almost always involved, because that's how the activity can thrive, and it boils down to obscene amount of profits to be made by all parties.Through documentaries that touch on current hot topics involving the environment, it's hard to tell how effective they can be. I guess a good measure if how convinced you are to the cause, and from the documentary, try to reinforce the message yourself to your peers. Simple actions done by a few, can go a long way, and I guess the simplest of ways is to start from yourself. An Inconvenient Truth has made me more diligent in electricity utilization, and now Sharkwater has convinced me to layoff the shark's fin soup, whether they come in cans, or presented in wedding dinners. I have a choice, and I choose not to consume it. You might laugh at the futility of my actions, or want to take my share, but go ahead please, as I'm exercising my choice, a choice which you have too.Watch Sharkwater. You might be convinced by the arguments for the cause too. If not, it's still an educational trip in learning more about sharks and the ocean ecosystem, with a stark warning not to tamper with the natural order of Mother Nature. Highly recommended, naturally.