It may be a shallow shark attack flick, but the chum… er, characters are often thrown into the deep end without so much as a dog paddle (there is an adorable Pomeranian in the movie, who's often in poochy peril!) and that's just plain fun!
The premise and set up is pretty wild and inventive: a huge earthquake triggers a tsunami that floods a supermarket and mall, killing most of the shoppers instantly (some good wet stuff here, as the pedestrians run in vain to escape walls of water). The survivors find themselves trapped inside the submerged store by a blocked entrance, while others are stuck in their cars in the parking garage with limited air supply.
Riding the waves from ocean to shore, of course, are all kinds of fish, flotsam, jetsam… and sharks. But these aren't just any sharks. Nosiree. This pair are impossibly huge, gigantic, voracious and vicious Great Whites with a taste for "the other white meat".
Our band of soaked survivors include supermarket employees, bargain hunters, an ex-lifeguard, a security guard and a basic mix of guys and gals of all ages and physical conditions. Each character is fairly well-drawn (considering) and as always, Julian McMahon (from Nip/Tuck) is a welcome addition as the good-looking, flinty bad-guy.
The special effects are about what you'd expect for a flick of this ilk, and perhaps even a cut above that. The suspense and action is well in place, but as a horror movie it's not quite up to par. It's more in the disaster and survival genre (think: The Poseidon Adventure). It's too bad the original director — Russell Mulcayhy — hired, stepped down. Had he been at the helm, I am sure Bait would have been a lot gorier.
The presentation on Blu-ray is excellent. I watched it on an HD flatscreen with LG 3D glasses and while I did feel a bit headachey from pretty early on, I think that says more about me than it does the disc-makers.
Special features include a storyboard gallery.
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Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson