Super Shark

Super Shark (2011)

** (out of 4)

Offshore drilling is to blame for a giant shark that gets set free and goes on killing rampage.

Fred Olen Ray directed this low-budget creature feature that's certainly not an Oscar-winner but then again the goal wasn't to win awards. Ray is an expert when it comes to these types of movies so he knows what his fans want and that's pretty much what he delivers. I mean, if you're willing to sit through a movie called SUPER SHARK then I'm sure you want to see a shark, correct? Well you're going to get plenty of shark action because the director gives us all sorts of action scenes and plenty of shark footage.

Yes, the CGI shark looks fake but then again all of these movies feature fake looking sharks but for the most part this one here looks good enough. There are plenty of scenes with the shark attacking people, jumping through the air and even crashing onto land. Just wait until the end when the shark does battle against a really fake looking tank. Tim Abell and Catherine Annette are good enough in their roles and for the most part the characters are entertaining.

Obviously SUPER SHARK isn't a masterpiece but for this type of movie it's entertaining enough to watch.

The US military tries to keep a "Super-Shark" at bay, but our leading lady exclaims, "This isn't working!" The shark jumps around on dry land, threatening to eat everyone in sight. This turns out to be lifted from later in the story. One week earlier, an oil rig mishap seems to trigger the madness. Oceanic Investigation Bureau (OIB) marine biologist Sarah Lieving (as Kat Carmichael) suspects oily executive John Schneider (as Roger Wade) caused the shark growth with environmentally unfriendly chemicals...

Still sporting his wavy "Dukes of Hazzard" hair, Mr. Schneider notices Ms. Lieving is attractive. "If only I had a mustache to twirl," he says. Minus his southern accent, Schneider sounds a bit like Robert Wagner. Lieving hires "Blue Moon" skipper Tim Abel (as Chuck) to help her find the monster shark. He also notices Lieving is attractive. Schneider works for former "Dark Shadows" reverend Jerry Lacy (as Stewart). A bikini contest is moderated by "Good Times" jive-taking Jimmie "J.J." Walker (as Stevens). Not dynamite.

*** Super Shark (12/8/11) Fred Olen Ray ~ Sarah Lieving, John Schneider, Tim Abel, Jerry Lacy

I am guessing you may have heard the song "Baby Shark" and I apologize for putting this back into your head. But as silly as the song is, the movie seems even sillier. CGI sharks in the water, CGI sharks on land ... well they are kind of everywhere. And this actually makes Sharknado look like a masterpiece.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves. This is really just for the hardcore shark horror (or animal horror?) fans out there, that can't get enough of this stuff. Everyone else should really just avoid this. No real character moments and even the "battle" at the end (which is also given away at the beginning of the movie) is horrendous

Another very low budget shark film, spectacularly poor animation as seems to be so popular in these movies recently. A movie along the same lines as 'Mega Shark' and the like. The animation is a problem I can accept in these low budget films, however a half reasonable storyline is something I cannot go without and i'm sorry but this film doesn't have one. The acting isn't bad, giving it the edge over its rival films. Therefore if you must watch one, make it this, however I would recommend you lift a good book (or a poor one for that matter) or get an early night. It would be a much more useful way to pass the time. You can thank me later.

Unfortunately for this movie, I am calling it jaw-droppingly bad. I did my best to keep an open mind, as I could tell from the title that the film was not necessarily going to be good but had the potential to be a guilty pleasure. That is if they had tried putting effort into components like the story, script, characters and effects. Every single of those are done abysmally here in my opinion. Super Shark is a very poorly made movie, with effects looking so fake that I got the sense they were rushed through in construction. Even the editing manages to have a choppy feel to it. The music is a little better, but there is nothing outstanding about it either and it could have been more atmospherically used, to me it felt too obvious at times. The script doesn't feel natural whatsoever, it all feels very cheesy and stilted, while the story is ridiculous, suspense-less and completely unsurprising, complete with a pointless romance that is in danger of slowing Super Shark down. The characters I didn't give a tuppence about, they are little more than walking clichés that don't do much other than acting foolish. The shark of the title is cheap in look and not menacing at all, while the attack scenes are choppily edited, unintentionally funny and as far away as thrilling or scary as you can go. Of the acting, Sarah Lieving is the only one who looks as though she is trying, all the others look bored. Overall, jaw-droppingly awful. 1/10 Bethany Cox