10 Best Shark Movies
5. Bait (2012)
A tsunami hits a coastal town in Australia, leaving shoppers trapped in a flooded supermarket. Pre-cursing the Sharknado (2013) premise, the bad weather has brought a trio of 12-foot long great whites into the aisles too. Luckily, one of the supermarket workers, Josh (Xavier Samuel), has a history with sharks and quickly takes control.
Again, a lack of computer animated effects makes for a good-looking film. The tight spaces, sparking electrical wires and circling fins create tension.
Bait is absolutely guilty of having too much going on. There’s an armed robber, a bully and his victim, a cop, a romance brewing, an estranged daughter, a dog, a spoilt brat. If you can forgive all the unnecessary back stories, it’s a pretty good effort. A schlocky bit of fun.
4. The Meg (2018)
Jason Statham plays reluctant hero Jonas Taylor as he leads a team of scientists in an underwater lab as they discover that the bottom of the ocean isn’t actually the bottom of the ocean. There’s more. And there are prehistoric sharks the size of blue whales down there. The billion-dollar equipment at the crew’s disposal make their ability to handle the situation at least the slightest bit believable.
The budget behind the film is so big (you could say, mega) compared to most shark movies that the effects are actually good, and the cast includes legitimate actors that people might have heard of. A boon in the salty world of shark films.
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3. Deep Blue Sea (1999)
A group of scientists in an underwater lab (sound familiar?) work to find a cure for Alzheimer’s by making mako sharks super intelligent. Dr Susan McAlester’s (Saffron Burrows) wide-eyed insistence that they are working for a greater good is grating to the point that you sort of want her to get eaten.
By involving science, it places the blame back in the human’s hands – very much like Jurassic Park (1993) – if human’s hadn’t got involved in the first place they wouldn’t be being plucked out the water as easily as grapes off a vine.
The CGI hasn’t aged particularly well but Ice Cube’s preacher will never not be funny, and Samuel L Jackson brings a bit of acting clout. Deep Blue Sea was released at the end of the 90s, pre-dating streaming services, so it thrived due to lack of competition. It remains a much-loved addition to the genre.
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