If you’ve seen a big budget disaster movie before, you know what to expect from Deep Water.  Every disaster trope you can think of makes an appearance.  What distinguishes this movie from the rest is that it’s not just an airplane crash movie, it’s also a shark attack movie!   That’s right, it’s a genre mash-up, which turns out to be a brilliant move because both halves compliment each other perfectly, like a burger with a side of fries.  The movie isn’t a masterpiece, but as far as genre fare goes, it’s exciting and entertaining.

For a while now, the role of the “one man wrecking crew” who takes on a corrupt town, corporation or what have you has been the cinematic domain of Jason Statham.  As an established badass, we know that anybody who gets in his way are idiots who will soon be lying in a pool of their own blood.  Which is what makes Bob Odenkirk’s encroachment on Statham’s territory so interesting.  No one would ever mistake Odenkirk for Statham, who looks more like a kindly grandpa than a killing machine.  Odenkirk’s a square peg that’s wedged himself into the action/revenge genre hole, and the mismatch is what makes Normal so much fun.  Odenkirk may look like a kindly old man, but watch out when he gets riled up.

One of the oldest cliches in cops and robbers movies is how the two groups are sides of the same coin. That they’re all angry psychopaths who don’t think twice about killing to get what they want.  The only difference between them is that those on the law enforcement side wear badges, and that the criminals wear better clothes and drive nicer cars.  Thankfully, Crime 101 doesn’t go in that direction.  Instead, it focuses on why some people are drawn to criminality, while others retain their moral compass.  It’s a movie that follows the genre formula fairly closely, but colors outside the lines just enough to keep us guessing.