Dangerous Animals

Every shark movie lives in the shadow of Jaws. While not the first, it had an immediate and lasting impact on movie culture and the industry. For one, it spawned a bunch of imitators, most of which failed to make any impression, much less a comparable one. Even once that initial wave subsided, and shark movies were free to go back to doing their own thing with the ocean's fiercest predators, no one has managed to make another classic. Instead, we have a bevy of films enjoyable for their over-the-top execution and cheese factor, not quality. Their goal is having some fun, leading to a wide variety of personal favorites (mine's Deep Blue Sea). The specific flavor of bombast Dangerous Animals brings to the table is a schlocky serial killer flick in which sharks are the murder weapon.

Tucker (Jai Courtney) is a boat captain on Queensland's Gold Coast who spends his days running shark tours, dispensing shark facts, and musing about the ways humanity is destroying ocean habitats. Zephyr (Hassie Harrison) is an American running away from her life back in the States by surfing the waves of Australia all day and sleeping in her van at night. After a cold open that sees Greg (Liam Greinke) stabbed and thrown overboard by Tucker before he locks up Heather (Ella Newton) below deck, we know Zephyr will end up on his boat one way or another. It's just a question of how will it all play out. Normally careful to only abduct loners, Tucker's unaware that Zephyr made a connection with Moses (Josh Heuston) the night before, who's unlikely to let go of the best thing that's happened to him in quite some time.

Read my full review on Pop Culture Maniacs.