SHARK BAIT (2022)
Tagline: Terror Runs Deep
(Adventure, Action, Aquatic Horror) [R]
Note: This movie wasn’t given an MPAA rating, but I think some of the language and gore would have had it getting an R.
In this one, some friends decide to steal two jet skis and start racing them around a popular spring break location, but far from the shore. After a collision, one of the skis is disabled and the remaining jet ski won’t start. With blood from their injuries attracting a giant shark, it is only a matter of time before they realize the situation is a matter of life and death and they are the bait.
First off, when it comes to effects, this movie is pretty good. It’s also pretty damn gory. It’s probably not the most gnarly shark movie I have ever seen, but it’s definitely the longest I have seen shark attack victims survive with the type of wounds these characters get. This movie was made by Picaro Films which may eventually become a player in the “sharkverse”. They have a second movie in preproduction right now and it’s also a shark movie. When a studio's first 2 movies are shark movies, there is a good chance you have a shark-centric studio on your hands.
Where this movie succeeds is in the actual shark photography and effects. I am not a “gore guy”, it bugs me when it’s too realistic, but for those people that are, this is one of the crazier shark bite movies. The other thing that works is the tension. They do a good job of creating a sense of dread.
Acting wise we get some pretty decent performances. Holly Earl plays the lead character “Nat” and she is really the only character that has any morals in the movie. Earl is best known for the TV series “Humans”. She is playing a teenager in this movie but is 30 years old in real life. She definitely looks a lot closer to her teens. Catherine Hannay plays Milly and does a really good job with the role. If we are supposed to not be able to stand this character, she nailed it. I can’t stand Milly. I also can’t stand Tom or Tyler played by Jack Trueman and Malachi Pullar-Latchman respectively. So yeah, there you have it. One good character in this whole damn movie.
What is wrong with this movie is the simplistic and pretty weak storyline. One thing I didn’t like about this thing is that it felt like watching a bunch of your idiot friends in high school argue about who was sleeping with who and who hurt who and whose a jerk and blah blah blah. I hated those situations when I was in high school and I hate them now. This is just a bunch of losers aside from Nat, just making themselves and their audience even more miserable than was necessary given the situation. The dialog is nothing special and the old man “warning” the teens about going out on the lake seemed like an afterthought. If there is one lesson here, it’s that you can’t always just pick a group of attractive actors and actresses and have it automatically work out.
For me, this was a downer and didn’t live up to what it could have been with even just one more worthwhile character. For shark movie fans this has to be at best a 3 out of 7, but don’t expect a fun movie. This thing is a hard watch most of its run time.
GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF PICARO FILMS AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY.
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