Bull Shark (2022) Review – A Toothless and Tedious Jaws Rip-off
Bull Shark: Quick Verdict
The Verdict: A toothless and remarkably uninspired clone of Jaws that replaces suspense and practical effects with mundane bureaucracy and relationship drama. Bull Shark fails as a horror movie primarily because it refuses to actually show its titular predator, instead forcing the viewer to follow a generic, unlikable game warden through a repetitive cycle of domestic issues and phone calls. When the shark does finally make an appearance, the CGI is so catastrophically poor that it resembles a 90s educational CD-ROM rather than a modern thriller. It is a 1.5 star experience that is slow, dull, and poorly researched, wasting a potentially interesting fresh water premise on a script that is as stagnant as a swamp. If you are looking for a survival thriller, look elsewhere; this is little more than a tedious soap opera with a few frames of bad digital fish.
Details: Director: Brett Bentman | Cast: Thom Hallum, Lindsey Marie Wilson, Billy Blair | Runtime: 1h 20m | Release Date: 2022
Best for: People looking for a “what not to do” guide for shark films and viewers who enjoy unintentional comedy in CGI.
Worth noting: Despite the title, the digital model used for the shark appears to be a Great White, as bull sharks are physically distinguished by their significantly shorter and blunter snouts.
Where to Watch: Amazon🛒, Tubi
Rating: 1.5/5 Stars
(Total lack of action, derivative script, and some of the worst CGI in recent memory.)
Welcome to Knockout Horror and to another terrible shark movie courtesy of free streaming service Tubi — Bull Shark from 2022.
Table of Contents
It’s barely a shark movie
A woman goes missing while swimming only for her body to, later, wash up on the shore. What is, initially, suspected to be foul play actually turns out to be the result of a shark attack. A local man desperately pleads to shut down the waters to prevent the death of further innocent people.
“Bull Shark is a complete and utter rip-off of the 1975 iconic shark thriller. Simply swap the job of sheriff to that of a game warden and change the setting to a lake.”
But the town’s mayor refuses, realising the impact it will have on the area’s tourist industry. It’s now up to the man to overcome both his troubled home life and the shark that is killing people right under his nose.
Now if you think I am describing the plot of the fantastic Spielberg movie Jaws, you would be right; but I am also describing the plot of Bull Shark. Yes, this movie is a complete and utter rip-off of the 1975 iconic shark thriller. Simply swap the job of sheriff to that of a game warden and change the setting of the New England beach town to a lake and you have this movie.
Bull sharks is amazing!!1!
I get a distinct feeling that writer, director, Brett Bentman didn’t know much about bull sharks. I feel like he watched a documentary about them, was completely amazed that they could live in fresh water and then had the bright idea to put a fresh water spin on Jaws.
For those of you who don’t know, bull sharks belong to a group known as Requiem Sharks. This is a group of live-bearing sharks, many of which are capable of surviving in brackish, or even fresh water. You don’t see these sharks in freshwater lakes all that often because they have a massive demand for protein. A demand that they would quickly outstrip in fairly isolated sections of water.
Bull sharks are also noteworthy for being incredibly aggressive. So does the premise of the movie Bull Shark make sense? Well, it is certainly possible. Bull sharks are found in fresh water, we know that. In fact, Peter Benchley, who wrote the novel that Jaws is based on, built his story around the Jersey Shore shark attacks of 1916. Two of which took place in either brackish or fresh water, leading to bull sharks being the lead suspects in those cases.
They have even been noted to have attacked bathers in the Ganges river, so there is a distinct possibility that this could happen. That doesn’t make the movie interesting, though. There’s barely any bull sharks in it. There’s a whole lot of bullshit, though.
Just so slow and dull
Bull Shark chooses to push aside its cool subject matter. Instead, it places the focus on an annoying game warden who is slowly ruining his life. This guy manages the lake and feels like it his responsibility to protect the people there. He is a recovering alcoholic who is struggling to avoid drinking every day and is slowly losing his grip on his family. His wife wants a divorce, his son doesn’t want to see him and I don’t want to watch a horror movie about people’s relationship struggles. Nobody is getting what they want from this film.
Jaws did devote a fair amount of time to Brody’s personal life and the corruption of the town’s government. Bull Shark decides to take all of that bullshit and make it the focus of the movie.
“The shark barely makes an appearance. Instead of cool scenes of people being eaten alive, we are given scenes of a man navigating bureaucracy and his own declining life.”
The shark barely makes an appearance. Instead of cool scenes of scantily clad people being eaten alive, we are given scenes of Spencer frantically talking on the phone with a bunch of different people navigating bureaucracy and his own declining life. Seriously, this is the most action-packed the movie gets. Bull Shark is tremendously boring.
Terrible effects
When Bull Shark isn’t sending the viewer to sleep with Spencer running his errands, it is disappointing them with some of the worst CGI I have ever seen. It is beyond bad. We have more of the crappy CG blood from Shark Waters. The actual shark itself manages to look even worse. It is like something you would see on an educational CD-ROM from the late 90s. Just awful. In fact, I am fairly sure it isn’t even a bull shark. It is just a generic great white; bull sharks have blunt snouts.
The only shark-related stuff comes from the movie repeatedly re-emphasising the fact that bull sharks can live in fresh water. You know, as if we had forgotten already. Oh, let’s not forget, there’s a bunch of inaccuracies regarding sharks. One example being an “expert” claiming it lost a tooth because it is a juvenile. Sharks lose and replace teeth consistently throughout their lives. This is a poorly researched movie that gets its only point of interest completely wrong.
Throw in some lacklustre acting, a bad script, and a level of pacing that feels like the equivalent of being eaten alive by a caterpillar, toes first, and you have little to hold onto.
“This is probably the most boring shark movie I have ever watched. It manages to make the subject of sharks yawn-inducing. That is a task in and of itself.”
Action scenes involving the shark consist of people shooting randomly into the open water, desperately hoping to hit something. The only chomping the shark does takes place off screen. It’s almost as if it is embarrassed to be seen in this drek. But, don’t worry, we also get to see Spencer’s Alcoholics Anonymous sponsor chastising him for falling off the wagon. I guess it’s not all a complete wash. Utterly mind-numbing.
The Good, The Bad & The Ugly
The Good
- Bright Cinematography: The film is clearly shot with decent equipment, offering bright and clean visuals that avoid the “muddy” look of some Tubi originals.
- Potential Hook: The idea of a fresh water bull shark attack is a solid premise rooted in real-world biology, even if the movie fails to execute it.
The Bad
- Blatant Plagiarism: The script is such a direct beat-for-beat copy of Jaws that it borders on the comical, yet it lacks any of the original’s charm or tension.
- Boring Lead: The focus on the game warden’s personal struggles and alcoholism makes for an incredibly slow and uninteresting drama.
- Pacing: For a film titled Bull Shark, there is a distinct lack of sharks, with the movie feeling far longer than its brief runtime.
The Ugly: The CGI Shark. A digital disaster that looks entirely disconnected from the water, featuring anatomy that does not even match the species in the title.
Should You Watch Bull Shark?
No. It is a 1.5 star failure that manages to make one of the ocean’s most aggressive predators feel boring. There is no horror, no suspense, and very little entertainment value outside of laughing at the effects. If you want a shark movie, watch Jaws again; if you want a drama about a man’s life falling apart, check Facebook. Do not waste your time with this.
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