Rating: C+
Dir: Matthew Holmes.
Star: Hermione Corfield, Jake Ryan, Jacob Junior Nayinggul, Arthur Angel.
The fresh angle here is that this shark movie is also a period piece, taking place in Australia just after the end of World War II. I don’t think I’ve seen a shark film before, which was not set in the present day. Presumably, because it’s trying to generate fear in the contemporary viewer, saying, “This could happen to you, right now!!!” A historical setting provides distance, making that goal harder. This is still decent, though is severely predictable, and also wants to glue modern attitudes onto the era. Hence, the heroes are a liberated woman and an Aborigine, who have to fight sexism and racism, almost as much as the excessively large shark.
They are Clara Bennett (Corfield) and Jimmy Barriakada (Nayinggul), employees of a struggling diving company run by Ernie Morgan (Angel). He accepts a dubious commission from Dylan ‘Bull’ Maddock (Ryan), to lift the contents of a crashed vehicle out of the river into which it crashed. Turns out it’s the proceeds of a robbery, in the shape of the worlds lightest bullion bars. [Memo to film-makers: a gold block the size of a mere cigarette packet would still weigh about two kilos] A massive bull shark is in the way, but Maddock and his henchmen won’t take no for an answer. He also has absolutely no intention of letting the diving trio go, once they have finished recovering his ill-gotten gains.
You should be able to predict who is going to survive from the above, with close to perfect accuracy. So this is not a film you should watch, if you require narrative innovation. However, what it does, it does well enough, mainly thanks to decent characterization. Everyone here feels like a real person, even Maddock, and consequently, their interactions fuel the movie, more than a plot with no surprises at all. The period atmosphere required is largely limited to some vintage cars and an endless supply of hats, due to ninety percent of the film taking place on the banks of a rural river. On the other hand, the shark works well; if you don’t see it much, when you do, it has genuine presence.
The beats show up, sometimes to the second as anticipated. Clara is attacked. She is not eaten. A local hunter is hired to dispose of the fish. He is eaten, the (female) shark showing solidarity, by only consuming white men throughout the film. Providing you have seen an adequate number of genre entries – three is likely sufficient – this leaves you in no doubt where it will end. The only minor question being, whether the survivors will keep the gold or return it to its owners. Yet it is well-made and acted, and was able to keep my interest engaged throughout. Just don’t ask why a deep-sea diving establishment decided to set up shop in the Australian outback. I’m afraid I can’t help answer that one.