I eagerly anticipated the release of this film since I happened upon the trailer.   The premise seemed quite creative and the film didn't seem to take itself all that seriously.    After all the whole idea behind the film was so improbable – it actually could work if done correctly.  

How can you go wrong with a shark trapped in a supermarket by freak tsunami.  You don't even need a solid story to sell it, just some humourous characters.    Unfortunately, though they pretty much stuck with the above formula – this movie didn't cut it. I think because they took themselves a little bit too seriously.

The screenplay was by the book and because of that it was bit on the predictable side.  That's ok because that would be what  you would expect of a shark/disaster movie.   And this definitely had a studied screenwriters at it's helm.  My only problem was the dialogue. While it was good to acceptable for most of the movie,  sometimes (especially at the end) it got way too cliche and corny – even for a disaster movie.

My other problem was the improbable situation.  While it was creative, in my opinion they blew it.   Why? Because there wasn't just a shark trapped in a flooded supermarket – there was a second shark trapped in the carpark directly below the supermarket.   One shark,  improbable but I willing to stretch my disbelief for it. Two sharks on different floors of the same building, we're talking about winning two lotteries on the same day here.

So, while this movie was better than your average SyFy fare, because of it's flaws it's only a must-see for those who need to see the whole shark movie collection.      

I agree with you, Michael.
Give the film a SyFy+.

Was saddened they didn't have more fun with the scenario/characters.
And the boatload of cheesy CG sparks from live wires in the market were annoying.
That poor guy dressed in shopping cart pieces...
They went so drama with that, why?
How about having the poor guy get caught in shark teeth and dragged around?

With the director of Highlander and Razorback on board, I was hoping for more.

E.D.

I wasn’t a fan of this one, thought it was poor and the only real compliment, if you can call it that, would be it was better than the terrible Shark Night.

This has some of the worse CGI I have ever seen. Honestly, that last image of the movie with the shark jumping out of the ocean was just horrible.

It’s a shame because I like shark movies, and the fact it was an Australian picture so I really wanted it to be good.

I'm going to disagree vehemently with you guys.  I was impressed with this from the get go.  This is far and away MUCH better than your standard DTV/VOD/etc.

First of all, this had a $30 Million AUD budget, which is alot for this kind of fare.  The film looked good, save for a few unimpressive and cartoonish shark shots, which should have been cut completely. Sets looked good.  There was definitely attention to detail throughout.  Finally, I was really impressed with the cinematography on display, and I'll throw a shout out to Ross Emery as well as Director Kimble Rindall for the creative choices he made in many a shot and scene.

Plot-wise?  Sure...cheesy, ridiculous, etc.  Who cares.  As presented, it worked for me.

Acting?  Pretty good for the most part, really.  Some cliche situations make it hard on actors, but I thought everyone looked good and performed well.

The middle dragged and some of the ideas in the plot and story weren't great, but I doubt anyone was expecting all that much.

To me, the vast majority of the shark scenes looked passable to very good.  There was some CGI that didn't work, but the practical effects looked great.

What made this work the most for me was the creative choices made on the actual shots and setups.  The couple in their car in the carport was well done.  Some great tracking shots utilized.  Some good tension developed through cuts between characters and shark.  Just way above the standard cheapass piece of shit action/disaster/horror flick.

Maybe I'm nuts, but I enjoyed it and you know I don't say that all too often.  Far superior to the vast majority of dreck out there.

I wasn't impressed as you were.
Maybe cuz I saw an Aussie workprint a year plus ago of this.
Even though I still expected more from Russell Mulcahy.
Razorback is still one of his best.
He did the predator/prey deal so well there.

E.D.

Mulcahy didn't direct this, Brett.  He shares writing credits with 5 other "writers", and exec produced, right?

Maybe I was so impressed because I thought the movie was going to suck ass.

I loved the vibrant colors on display.  The film stock looked great, and as ridiculous as it may have been, there was definitely solid direction that kept things under control.

Much better than Shark Night 3D - hopefully, we can agree on that.  

Quoted from Dreamscale Mulcahy didn't direct this, Brett.  He shares writing credits with 5 other "writers", and exec produced, right?

Oh damn!
On the old workprint I watched a year ago Mulcahy was credited as the director.
I remember it well, got me psyched for the flick.

Now I wonder how diffy this other director's take is?

E.D.

The biggest problem with Bait IS the 3D aspect of it. They wanted to 3D the sharks and some of the blood, and thus in 2D it looks horrible. I agree that two sharks on two floors was overkill. I would much rather have the couple and the mutt on the garage be in danger of drowning and/or downed wires etc or perhaps the shark would switch floors now and then. I would have also accepted that the last "revealed" thief-killer be down there as opposed to the store. BTW, about that.  It was a surprise, but  a surprise I could have cared less about. It almost seemed tacked on ("We need a guy that an audience would hate and fast ! We need a glorious kill of a victim we don't give a wink about!")

But you gotta give Bait props for having a surprising suspenseful sequence where one character wears a homemade shark cage and risks life and limb to accomplish a task needed to survive. (Even if the goal opens a plot hole in logic)  There was also one impressive death scene as well.

YES this is what 'Shark Night' needed. (with due respect to the late Dave Ellis) It was just enough to keep interest. For the budget, the use of confined locations and the inventive gags, the comic relief couple (mutt survivor too) I can't really fault Bait all that much. I also liked Xavier Samuel's acting a little bit too...although I thought Doyle played by the biggest name (Julian McMahon) was rather interchangeable. They were lucky to get McMahon, but he phoned in his performance.

I'm kind of wondering what the earlier drafts of the script was like. Did it have sharks in it or not?

Quoted from DarrenJamesSeeley I'm kind of wondering what the earlier drafts of the script was like. Did it have sharks in it or not?

There wasn't extra sharks on multiple levels in the 2011 workprint I watched.
Mulcahy was the director of record on that.

The one shark moved to the parking garage in that version.
And that's when victims used that time to construct the homemade cage.
Which is my fave bit in the version I saw.

I'm guessing when they did reshoots, they added more sharks! ;D

E.D.