Planet of the Sharks
"This alpha female is controlling an army of sharks!" - Shaw
release year: 2016
genre: shark scifi/action/drama
viewing setting: home DVD, 8/23/21
synopsis: In a future world covered with water and infested with sharks, people in floating towns try to survive.
impressions: Well, this one was different. Much like Shark Week, it's like someone took some other successful movie idea and said "how can we work sharks into this?"...and then actually did it. In this case, the source of inspiration was Waterworld and so there were these ragtag floating towns/settlements full of people trying to figure out what to do. Unfortunately, their towns' buildings and walkways weren't high enough above the water to prevent the flying sharks from jumping out of the water and eating them every now and then. Yes, this movie continues the Asylum company's tradition of sharks that 1) leap out of the water, and 2) roar underwater. This movie also had a collection of things that I began referring to as "magic"...like the magic shark (the alpha female, whose snout glows underwater and who somehow controls all the other sharks)...the magic soccer ball (the sound-emitting device the scientists use to try and lure the sharks to their demise)...the magic kite (which allows the one lady to windsurf really fast and avoid all sharks)...the magic laser (some sort of superweapon that just happened to be lying around on an abandoned floating base, waiting to be reactivated)...the magic sword (which allowed the one guy to kill multiple sharks despite having no training.) And by the way, part of the plot involved an actual rocket that they needed to launch to do something to the atmosphere to make the ocean waters drop. If you can't tell, this was fairly entertaining despite being somewhat silly, and low-budget. It had higher production values than most films of this type.
acting: Brandon Auret was, I think, intended to be the tough-guy lead, but for 99% of the movie he just had a worried look on his face. Lindsay Sullivan was the older head scientist with the same hairdo and facial expressions as Mrs. Brody from the Jaws movies. Stephanie Beran was another scientist, one who proved quite adept at windsurfing in shark-infested ocean waters. Christia Visser was the third female scientist, who was younger and feistier. Lauren Joseph was a rescued young woman who didn't talk or do much. John Swart was the lone male scientist/technician of note. Angie Teodora Dick was the ruler/security-head of one floating town, and sported the worst southern accent I have ever heard.
final word: Interesting idea, executed surprisingly well on a low budget.
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