BULL SHARK (2022)

BULL SHARK (2022)

Tagline: Everything is bigger in Texas.

(Drama, Action, Bullet Proof Shark?) [R]

Note: This movie was direct to video so there was no MPAA rating. Giving the profanity, it would definitely be an R. 

I say this a lot when people read magazine articles on shark attacks or they turn on the history channel for one week a year and suddenly everyone becomes an expert…

In this one, a bull shark ends up in a lake inadvertently and starts eating people on the lake. Like in every other shark movie the Mayor and Sheriff are trying to keep it out of the media. Can game warden Spencer Timms stay sober long enough to take on his small town's biggest killer? 

First off, let’s start with the good. I liked that we got a decent-looking shark when we did see it. There are some bad “shark fin” scenes, but I’ve definitely seen worse. The other thing is that the acting isn’t absolutely terrible. Most of the scenes are fine and most of these actors have been in other low-budget projects. In the few moments where Lindsey Marie Wilson (who plays Dottie Timms) is given some lines and a chance to shine, she does a pretty solid job. We do actually get some emotion unlike most of the stuff that comes out of Wild Eye Releasing ( by the way, this isn’t Wild Eye, it’s B22 which is a very new studio that has already put out 18 movies in the past few years. There is apparently already a BULL SHARK 2 announced.). I like that Spencer gets a bit of a redemption story here. We also get some “okay” cinematography on such a low budget. 

What doesn’t work is the acting just in general. While it’s not the worst, when you have a script this flat, it’s nice where you can have actors playing better off each other. In one scene Spencer and the Mayor have what should have been a tense argument. Instead, it comes across as a parent-teacher meeting where the parent totally agrees their kid is a jerk. The other thing I have to wonder is if Spencer and the Sheriff took shooting lessons from the Stormtroopers in STAR WARS or if this freakin shark is bulletproof. It’s nearly impossible to tell. We also have a really uneven score in this movie. Sometimes you have some cool guitar chords creating a tense ride across the river and other times you have terrible piano playing in a scene it would have been better to have something slightly more upbeat. Apparently, some of the science jargon used in this movie is incorrect, but I am kind of wondering if that was intentional or not. Jacob Harper even takes a shot at “Shark Week” making people think they are shark experts. It would be a bit funny if they actually had him saying something wrong. 

Bonus annoyance: Not sure why this bothered me, but Jacob Harper the shark expert that Spencer goes to is drinking out of a plain white coffee cup. This is not an uncommon thing, but I personally think plain white coffee cups are an abomination to “mugs”. If you are going to have a cup in a movie on your desk, why not have that thing say at least something? Even having something like the Texas flag would have bugged me less. 

Overall there is just too little shark in this movie and the short run time is actually a favor to the audience. It also borrows way too much from the JAWS plotline which only works if you can deliver some likable characters or throw in a lot of humor to make it clear, that you know you are stealing from JAWS and don’t care or you give JAWS some props. I should also note that there is a mid-credit scene. 

This movie does have its moments, but overall the best I can do is just not recommend it. This is a 2 out of 7 for me.

GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF B22 FILMS AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY. 

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