Shark Bait (2022) by Jeff Nunn


Director: Jeff Nunn
Year: 2022
Country: United Kingdom
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Sharks

Plot:
On Spring Break in Mexico, a group of friends decides to steal a pair of jet skis and go for a ride out to sea, but when an accident strands them in the middle of the ocean they must try to make it back to civilization while being chased by a Great White Shark picking them off one by one.

Review:

This one was a fun enough genre effort. Among the better features to be had here comes from the highly enjoyable setup that manages to drop them into the situation. The group being out while on Spring Break allows them to have their fun and come up with the moronic idea of stealing the boats in the first place before having that also be the cause of the fateful accident that strands them there. That provides quite a lot to enjoy with the group trying to get their boat fixed and trying to get to safety which is a massively entertaining part of this one.

That allows for the film to get a lot of mileage out of the shark attacks here. The first encounter where it attacks the group while they're attempting to save themselves comes off with a great deal of suspense trying to get out of the water as the shark circles them leading to a great ambush attack. A second ambush later on involving the lover going off to find help is quite thrilling with some shocking jumps involved, while a tense night-time swim for safety unaware of what's near them has an immensely eerie quality to it. Featuring a rousing finale with the battle to get to shore against the shark, there's quite a lot to like with this one.

There isn't much here that really holds it back but it does have some issues. The biggest detriment here, which doesn't even hold it down that much anyway, concerns the utterly inane and useless subplot about the cheating couple that has little impact on the film as a whole. It's a cliche in and of itself and really has no point other than it eating up time in the middle where they fight over useless points that don't make anyone out for the better. The other small issue here is the rather obvious scenes of the creatures' unnatural behavior to propel the narrative here which won't be obvious for most and shouldn't be held against it.


Overview: ****/5
A far better-than-expected killer shark film, this one comes off quite enjoyable in this formula as the few minor flaws aren't that big of a deal which features a lot to like in the end. Those who enjoy the genre or are intrigued by the setup at play here will have a lot to like, while mostly those who don't appreciate the style or approach of the genre should heed caution even though it's one of the better efforts out there.

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