Shark Hunter (2001)

Director: Matt Codd

Starring: Antonio Sabato Jr., Christian Toulali

Run Time: 94 mins

Certificate: 15

 

Plot Outline: A family out on a boat are attacked by a giant prehistoric shark called a Megalodon. The only survivor is the boy who grows up to be a bitter teacher and who has designed a super submarine but can't get permission to use it. However when an underwater research facility is destroyed by an unknown object, he is given permission to take a team on the submarine to find out what happened. He comes to suspect that his old friend, the Megalodon, is behind it and wants revenge

The Review: And I thought Shark Attack 3: Megalodon was bad until I saw this piece of garbage. It's basically The Hunt for Red October but with a giant shark instead of a Russian submarine. There's plenty of submarine vs shark action but you'd have thought that no matter how big a shark can grow, it's still flesh and and the submarine should have no problem blowing it up if it really wanted to. The special effects look like they were designed for a game on the PS2 let alone a feature film. The shark looks extremely cheesy and has this smirk on it's face all throughout the film - you're just waiting for it to open it's mouth fully and start singing. Anyone seen Finding Nemo and the "fish are friends, not food" sharks with the grins on their faces? I also expect a certain degree of entertainment when sharks attack people and most of the films in this sub-Jaws genre manage to contain at least one average attack scene. This doesn't happen here and the viewer is left feeling a little ripped off as a result. I didn't even care about the people when they eventually got eaten because the characters are so bland. The whole story about the boy wanting revenge and building this sub sounds like a bad soap story. The script is really poor and when your best actor is Grand L. Bush, then you're having problems. The film's only highlight is the less-than-happy ending which is a real breath of fresh air from the usual hero saves the day crap. But I was probably only happy about the ending because it meant that the film was over and I wouldn't have to subject myself to this trash anymore.

Final Verdict: Shark Hunter's cover makes it look like this is a really cracking shark-on-the-loose film but it's not. It's clear that no one really have a toss whilst making the film so why should you bother watching?