Bait 3D DVD Review (Kirk Haviland)

Bait 3D DVD 

Starring Xavier Samuel, Sharni Vinson, Alex Russell, Phoebe Tonkin and Julian McMahon

Written by Russell Mulcahy and John Kim (with additional writing by Shayne Armstrong, Duncan Kennedy, Shane Krause and Justin Monjo).

Directed by Kimble Rendall

From the Gold Coast of Australia Anchor Bay Entertainment brings us Bait 3D on DVD and Blu-Ray. The film stars a cast of rising stars from Australia including Xavier Samuel (Loved Ones, Twilight Saga: Eclipse), Sharni Vinson (Step Up 3D, You’re Next), Alex Russell (Chronicle) and Phoebe Tonkin (TV’s The Secret Circle, Tomorrow, When the War Began). The cast is further rounded out with some veteran presence in the form of Julian McMahon. The question remains with the overabundance of Shark based thrillers out there is Bait more part Jaws or Sharktopus?

After a gargantuan freak tsunami hits a sleepy beach community in Australia a group of survivors, including store staff Josh (Samuel) and Ryan (Russell), Josh’s former fiancée Tina (Vinson), Police Officer Todd and his daughter Jaimie (Tonkin), and the untrustworthy Doyle (McMahon) find themselves trapped inside a submerged grocery store. As they try to escape to safety they soon discover that there is a predator among them more deadly than the threat of drowning – multiple vicious great white sharks are lurking in the water. As the bloodthirsty sharks begin to pick the survivors off one by one, the group realizes that they must work together to find a way out without being eaten alive.

Bait 3D establishes from the beginning that this is not a serious thriller out to uphold the Jaws legacy. It clearly has its tongue firmly planted in cheek. Why the script went through six writers is beyond me as the dialogue is pedestrian and the “twist” obvious to anyone watching the film well before the people in the film discover it. There is a lot of the traditional paint by numbers in the story, but the thing that keeps its forward momentum is the camp factor allowing for some humorous sequences and some decent death scenarios. I say scenarios because the deaths themselves come at the hand of one of the worst realized sharks I’ve seen in a theatrical production (it is playing theatrically in Australia but will be direct to video in North America) and play for laughs not scares. The young cast does manage to represent themselves well here and it’s obvious as to which of these actors are the ones that are already making inroads in not only Australia but Hollywood as well. McMahon serves as senior statesman here and perfectly encapsulates the charming, smarmy guy you know you should never trust but you still do. The setting of the film is actually pretty ingenious and the physical set, set decoration, and physical effects all add to the sense of claustrophobia and urgency of the film. The CGI portions do let the film down considerably as they never appear realistic at any time. Sadly Bait would have been better served with a “Jaws the shark isn’t working” type scenario that would have forced them to get more creative.

Ultimately there is a lot of fun to be had with Bait 3D, while it will never win any awards it does enough that it could easily become a cult classic. While Bait 3D will not be for everybody, there will be a lot who hate it outright and will claim I am losing my mind, I still must give it a Recommend.

Till Next Time,

Movie Junkie TO

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