“Killer Whale” follows Trish and Maddie, who travel to a private lagoon halfway across the world. Their peaceful retreat turns into a fight for survival as an orca seeks vengeance for a life in captivity.
From the opening 10 minutes alone, it’s clear the kind of movie that “Killer Whale” is going to be. It’s overwhelmingly cheesy — so much so that the heightened situations never feel as real or threatening as intended. At the same time, the film is both purposefully and unintentionally funny.
“Killer Whale” knows how to subvert expectations in these moments of levity, resulting in many laughs along the way.
Even though it’s a bad movie, director Jo-Anne Brechin does take some swings. This isn’t necessarily your traditional creature feature. “Killer Whale” has ambitions of condemning animal captivity through its tale. This is a purposeful subject, though it’s not necessarily explored in the best ways.
“Orcas have never, ever killed a human in the wild. The only time they’ve ever killed anybody is when they have been trapped in captivity. Oh my God. She thinks she’s still trapped in captivity.”
Characters are constantly discussing the topic, oftentimes in untimely moments. This causes the film’s pacing to suffer, as it stops to pause amidst the chaos. This creates many tonal inconsistencies as well. “Killer Whale” aims to blend horror, drama and thriller genres. Unfortunately, it isn’t ever able to seamlessly put them together. It has many pieces that could result in a successful film. But it’s not.
Its overall objectives don’t mesh, attempting to be part “Free Willy” and part “47 Meters Down.” It’s also too similar to movies like “Fall” or “The Shallows,” almost following exact beat-for-beat patterns that those films had.
“Killer Whale” manages to sneak in a few tense moments that provide mild entertainment. They’re just too few and far between.
Despite all of the script problems, these aren’t even the biggest issues within “Killer Whale.” Once these characters venture into the sea, it becomes virtually unwatchable. Mostly shot in a controlled environment, the movie heavily relies on green screens. Simply put, this doesn’t get the job done. In almost every shot, the onscreen individuals fail to blend into the environment. Because of this, there’s no immersion.
The orca itself doesn’t look the worst. In some scenes it looks “real” enough, while in others it sticks out like a sore thumb. But since the movie itself features nonstop unrealistic visuals, the animal almost works by default.
Virginia Gardner (Maddie) and Mel Jarnson (Trish) do the best that they can. Gardner and Jarnson deliver lines of emotional dialogue that stick. Other than that, they’re forced to give exaggerated phrases and mannerisms that don’t land.
You’ll probably find yourself laughing a lot during “Killer Whale.” Just not for the right reasons. It’s part anti-captivity parable, part friendship drama and part creature feature. None of them are done particularly well.
Rating: 1.5 out of 5
