Simply Perfect

Excellent but underrated film

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

OK, not a real fan of present day shark mania movies (Atomic Shark, Ice Shark and so on)but this has something going for it, good acting, good cinematography,good script.I think of it as a cross platform movie, meaning it's a cross between Stephen King's The Mist and Peter Benchley's Jaws. An interesting angle of horror and tension and of course the antagonist...Mr Shark.visual effects well above par for a "low budget" movie. the people behind the making of the movie definitely have talent, as do the actors.If you are stuck for a really good movie, and have watched the cream of them...then sit back and have a good night in with popcorn and enjoy.

I went into this with low expectations, and was happily surprised by this above average killer shark movie, which doesn't take itself too seriously, but also doesn't try for cheap laughs either. After a needless dramatic intro involving death of a brother, and a love triangle, the film gets good when its main plot kicks in, and a massive tsunami traps a group of people in a now submerged supermarket, with 10-feet long sharks, and live electric cables to contend with. An interesting and unique shark attack/ disaster flick, it wisely avoids going into Jaws territory with a giant shark, keeping the sharks in a more believable 10- 12 feet range, and also doesn't make any one character the focus of the plot, giving most of the characters a fair amount of screen time.

First off, I watched this in 2D on TV, so any of the 3D effects stuff was lost on me. Secondly, I love shark films as a rule, but I expected the worst after BAIT's opening sequence: it's the kind of cheesy drama you expect from a PIRANHA 3D rip-off, complete with monstrously bad CGI.I'm glad I stuck with it though as BAIT soon turns out to be a great little thriller with a unique storyline: victims of a tsunami are trapped inside a flooded supermarket with only a great white or two for company. What follows is a tight, action-packed movie, filled with the brim with suspense and perilous sequences; it's great fun, and another winning Aussie B-movie.The cast is as engaging as the storyline and I particularly liked the diverse characters caught up in the chaos: there's Hollywood actor Julian McMahon as a bank robber, while Xavier Samuel (THE LOVED ONES) and Sharni Vinson (YOU'RE NEXT) play a young couple. Dan Wyllie's redneck is hilarious, and the rest of the characters also stand out: the cop, his shoplifting daughter, the manager, the security guard, the cashier, etc.The story is told via action for the most part, and the special effects turn out to be very good - it looks as though they used a real shark for the majority of the scenes. It's just the opening scene and the closing CGI cityscape which are really bad. There's plenty of violent death here, a true unpredictability as to who's going to make it (if any of them) and above all a play-it-straight vibe that makes BAIT stand head and shoulders above many a rival B-movie.

Saw this one on SyFy; the only clue that this film wasn't one of their house movies was the appearance of more money spent (somewhere around $20 million, I now see). It's not easy to make a GOOD shark flick but people keep trying. The Aussies know more about sharks than the Americans, but both will settle for garbage sometimes. The story is not challenging, and the pace is just so slow. The actors also seemed to be waiting for their turn to speak at times, so it was better when things picked up a bit. If a film can make you feel stupid for viewing it, this is in that category. I'm not sure why the Chinese audience reportedly poured millions into seeing this, but that could be due to their TV choices being tepid documentaries, government news or 1960's style variety shows. Compared to that, I'd recommend "Bait" but for no other reasons.