You know…this will probably sound kinda weird…if the acting was really good and the CGI was well done…this movie would actually be a decent 2 star flick…maybe even 3 stars! I was actually surprised by this film in the sense that, yes it remains crap on so many levels…and yet it had a strong concept, a decently written story and clearly a film that could have had amazing potential if it had been directed by…Joss Whedon…okay okay…John Carpenter…but maybe Joss Whedon if John couldn’t get Kurt Russell and Jon Bon Jovi.
Our film begins with a father & his 20 something year old daughter who are trying to make a lot of money by attempting to catch a big fish; enough for the father to buy his own boat with, rather than renting it from another “Big Cheese of Fishing”. After their big catch gets eaten by a great white shark, the father and daughter decide to go after the shark by stabbing it, and throwing a grenade into its mouth. The shark dies, and its body ends up being moved by the sea into a small cave that has mystical powers…the type that acts like a lazarus pit. So the shark comes back in the form of a glowing ghost, which then exacts it’s revenge, not only on the greedy father and daughter who caught it on tape, but also the poor sailor who took them out to begin with…and then…the world!
The following day, the sailor’s own daughters end up finding the boat, and become more concerned about “what’s out there” rather than coming to realisation that their dad might actually be dead! I mean seriously, can you not be afraid of 2 things at once? This is why I mentioned the acting, because clearly the actors don’t show any sadness or regret or mourning…unless of course the actor is Richard Moll (easily the biggest star in this film and the voice of Two Face in Batman: The Animated Series). He plays the lighthouse keeper named Finch, the “crazy guy” in town who effectively fills the role of Quint (from Jaws). He’s torn between solving the problem and keeping it alive, as they are connected somehow to his late wife, but I’m not spoiling that for you fine people who will obviously be rushing to see this film immediately after reading this review.
If you were like me as a child and took more pleasure in creating the monsters to overcome rather than the heroes, you could say that the concept of the Ghost Shark is easily 1 of the best monsters I’ve seen in a long time. With the right people, this character could have had amazing potential. Consider this: What if a killer could dwell and inhabit any kind of water and at any size. Not just the sea or a lake or a river, but a puddle or a water slide or the rain or a glass of water? The highly impressionable small child would find this terrifying…imagine the audio book of this story?
Anyway, lets talk about other characteristics; the cinematography was fine, outside of Finch I thought the rest of the characters weren’t up to much and could have been better. It intrigued me though to see them feature girls who looked a lot more like they were from next door rather than a calendar. The acting on the most part, once again, atrocious. The CGI was hilariously bad, particularly during the water slide scene. But like I said, not a bad concept or story. The music had 1 dramatic score that is used over and over again like that confusing music clip from Saved By The Bell that doesn’t tell you if a scene is happy or sad.
Would I recommend this film? Only if you have gotten used to this crap by watching other terribly good syfy monster movies. This is a more typical 1, and definitely not the only ‘shark’ movie in the series. In general it’s still good fun. But not for those who only want to watch really good movies all of the time.
1/4* out of 5
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