Given the ludicrous amount of shark movies, we gotta specify is this isn’t an alternate title for 2001’s Shark Hunter, which i haven’t yet seen, but seems very similar to the 2000 movie Megalodon, with a bit of Moby Dick style obsession from the lead to the megalodon shark/whale substitute. This one is a different movie, but i don’t blame anyone confusing the two, with the ultra confusing alternative titles these movies get, especially when you have seen hundreds of shark movies, they kinda start to blur and mesh into each other in your mind, and probably there’s also a movie you don’t know about that’s exactly the “plot blend” your brain accidentally brewed.
This one, directed by Sheldon Wilson, is about Chase “action hero name here” Walker, the titular shark killer, as he gets called for a job by his criminal step-brother, Jake, the head of a crime ring, and wants Chase to kill a black finned shark that accidentally swallowed a diamond during a transaction. He also enlists his subordinate-love interest Jasmine to keep an eye on him, but things get more complicated as a rival eastern europe-y crime boss, Nix, wants to get his hands on the diamond as well, and kidnaps Jasmine to ensure Chase doesn’t try anything funny….
Kinda reminds me of Barracuda, as in most of the movie isn’t about the shark (or equivalent killer animal) at all, but more to the crime thriller action, but this one fares better than most as in i didn’t exactly minded that too much because the movie would actually fare ok even without the shark, to be honest, mostly because it has a fun 90’s action movie quality to it, as it doesn’t take itself serious for the most part, often indulges its silly side, thanks in no small part to the tough, womanizing, douchy-but-not-too-douchy lead character and its evil but cowardly crime lord brother from another mother… its thick english, i’m not sure exactly what kind of accent, but it’s hilarious. XD
Not as thick as the Cape Town accents some of thugs have, but aside from the variety of english accents, the movie can be intentionally funny as well, like how Chase at the beginning sees a scene from Jaws coming and he’s not having any of it on its watch. XD It’s overall a stupid, quite silly movie, but this one does provide some laughs and it’s more entertaining than i expected, mostly predictable but still entertaining, with a fast moving narrative and the just right lenght.
At least it is in the UK DVD release i have (and apparently even the version streaming on Amazon Prime Video), looking at IMDB the movie should have 25 more minutes… and i’m not even sure if that means more shark action, but due to the lack of info on the missing footage i’m willing to speculate this cut was for the best, and leave it at that. I’m gonna trust my instincts on this one.
While it doesn’t entirely rely on the shark as its sole reason for existing, you kinda wish it would be more on screen, since they even estabilish that the black-finned shark is actually following Chase around and killing everything in its wake like in Jaws 4, and the big action scene with the shark happens at the end. But it’s easily overlooked thanks also the good pacing, the decent acting from a cast of people you might actually have seen in something else popular, like Battlestar Galactica, The 100, the Percy Jackson movies, Supernatural, the 2017 Power Rangers reboot…
As a plus we have Arnold Vosloo playing a crime villain after a diamond like he did in Blood Diamond… ok, one a bit more ridiculous and clichè, but he still gives a good performance, and makes for a fun 90’s style villain.
Also, it’s surprisingly well produced for a low-to-mid tier new company like Blue Ice Production (also behind the horror re-imagining of The Banana Splits and something called Letter From Satan Claus, not a typo), a nice stylish intro, decent presentation overall, and surprisingly solid production values. Even more “shocking”, the sharks are CG… of decent-good quality. It’s like seeing an unicorn for a modern shark movie that wasn’t shooting for a theatherical release.
Dumb, predictable fun, but fun, more grounded (so actually easier to convince “normal people” into watching it with you) than most of the modern strand of shark movies, but still silly at heart.
Wise Cafe (International) 