Shark Bait, 2022.
Directed by James Nunn.
Starring Holly Earl, Jack Trueman, Catherine Hannay, Malachi Pullar-Latchman, and Thomas Flynn.
SYNOPSIS:
A group of teens on spring break get stranded at sea and attract the attention of a great white shark.
It’s coming round to the summer, which means that the latest wave of shark movies is making its way to the rocky shores of the streaming services, and with 1975s Jaws still being the daddy of not only shark but all killer animal movies, Shark Bait is going to have to work very hard to be in with a shout of living up to Spielberg’s classic.
And with that being the case it doesn’t even try, because Jaws was not a movie about a shark but a dramatic character piece about three men in a boat that just happened to have a shark in it. However, what Shark Bait does do is try to emulate the slasher shark attack thrills of Jaws 2, which is a much more realistic target to aim for, although aiming for a target and hitting it are two entirely separate things.
So, we have our group of teenage/early 20s youngsters who are living the dream by drinking and partying on a Mexican beach (or a Maltese beach, playing the part of a Mexican one) during spring break. The booze is flowing, the sun is shining and, after a warning from a strange local whose legs are missing, four of the group decide it’s a good idea to steal two jet skis before they have to leave for home. The fifth member of the group, Nat (Holly Earl), is a bit more sensible and doesn’t want to be so silly but she is coaxed into it and eventually joins in.
Everything is going well until the guys driving the jet skis get all macho and start trying reckless stunts, which causes an accident. One of the jet skis sinks and one of the group, Greg (Thomas Flynn), breaks his leg, causing lots of blood to flow into the water and attracting a very aggressive great white shark who can seemingly perform more tricks than Flipper. Not the ending to the holiday these kids were expecting.
As stated, Shark Bait is a movie that is clearly looking at the first Jaws sequel for its inspiration – teenage kids looking for a day of fun on the high seas and being picked off by a killer shark – but the main difference between the two movies is that in Jaws 2 you rooted for the kids and in Shark Bait you cannot wait for the despicable hot heads to get what you know is coming to them. That could still have played out in an immensely satisfying way had the CGI been up to scratch and the kills not been so stupid but after spending some time setting up the very unlikeable characters – and the term is used very loosely – the arrival of the shark is a huge let-down.
Well, not strictly true as the first time you see it is when it swims quietly across the screen in the background with no fanfare or fuss, and it is probably the most effective and tense shot there is in the whole movie. After that, every time it sticks its head out of the water, leaps like a performing dolphin at SeaWorld or, in the one practical effect they keep going back to, an unconvincing plastic dorsal fin floats by like it was being held by a crew member from under the water and not cutting the water like the dangerous beast it should be, the effect is not that of shock, such as in Jaws 2, or even laughter, like in Jaws: The Revenge, but simply one of indifference, because the idiots have fallen in the water again and the cartoon shark is going to swim at them very quickly with its mouth open.
However, despite the fact that Shark Bait isn’t very good it does have two aces up its sleeve, the first being that it does feature some impressive drone shots and underwater camerawork. There are several moments when the camera is above the one remaining jet ski and it just rises, taking in the surrounding water and hinting at the perils that could lurk beneath, providing more tension than any of the so-called ‘action’ scenes do. The second thing it has in its favour is that the standard of the plethora of other shark movies available on streaming platforms and DVD at the moment is so low that one movie looking visually impressive and having a decent lead performance – Holly Earl is the definite standout here (apart from the Maltese beach, who gives the best performance) – tends to stick out above the others. But is being bad but not as bad as other bad shark movies really something to be happy about?
Anyway, if shark movies are your catnip – or your chum, as it were – then Shark Bait is going to be on your watchlist regardless. When put up against the likes of Great White, 47 Metres Down: Uncaged, Cage Dive and Deep Blue Sea 2 it is the more entertaining movie and watching imbeciles getting eaten is reasonably pleasing when they are portrayed as stereotypical as this, but when a movie comes at you with ‘From the Executive Producers of Great White and 47 Metres Down…’ as a boast (note – not the director or the writer but from the people that helped fund them) then there isn’t much going for it other than passing the time until the next one comes along, which probably won’t be long as the same people seem to like making these cheap, limited idea movies, according to the poster anyway.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Chris Ward
