Bait (2012)


REVIEWER RATING: 
5/10


I'm not a huge fan of shark flicks, but I did like the concept of Bait, which is why I decided to give this a shot. Luckily I didn't expect much from the movie to begin with, because it turned out to be a rather bland addition to the genre. Though, I will give it points for a decent cast and slightly above average production values.

The story follows an eclectic group of people in an underground supermarket where a couple armed men decide to hold the place up. Before the criminals can escape with the loot, the place gets hit by a huge tsunami and they find themselves submerged in several feet of water.  With only a handful of survivors (including one of the criminals) they must put their differences aside and band together in hopes of finding a way out of the dire predicament. To make matters worse, it seems that a couple vicious man-eating sharks are also trapped in there with them.

The movie primarily takes place within this underground supermarket, but it occasionally flashes to and from a parking garage where a few other survivors are trying to escape another shark. The flick was intended to be watched in 3D, so watching it in 2D offers a lot of noticeable obligatory sequences involving something coming at the camera. That aside, as far as shark movies go, this is actually a decent effort and one of the better features I've seen in recent years, but compared to a lot of the shit that's out there, that's not really saying much.

Like I said before, the production values are decent, though there are quite a few questionable CG shark scenes. Fortunately they used practical effects for some of these key deaths. The pacing was also pretty steady, keeping me interested until the end. I also dug the cast of familiar faces, specifically Julian McMahon (Nip/Tuck) Alex Russell (Chronicle) and Xavier Samuel (The Loved Ones). Of course it's also not without its share of overacting from the supporting cast. As far as the script goes, we run into some evident logical issues and unnecessary (and seemingly forced) drama and romance as the film progresses. In the end it's a mixed effort, but sadly with more negative aspects than it should have.

Bait offers an interesting concept, but the execution wasn't quite on par with what it could've been. That said, it's still one of the better shark films I've seen lately thanks to some decent deaths and slightly above-average production values. Unfortunately, there are just too many little problems to go along with it that ultimately leads to it being a mixed bag. If you're a big shark buff then you may enjoy this a bit more than I did, but as an avid horror fan don't expect much.
OVERALL: 
Bait offers an interesting concept, but the execution wasn't quite on par with what it could've been. That said, it's still one of the better shark films I've seen lately thanks to some decent deaths and slightly above-average production values. Unfortunately, there are just too many little problems to go along with it that ultimately leads to it being a mixed bag. If you're a big shark buff then you may enjoy this a bit more than I did, but as an avid horror fan don't expect much.


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