I remember watching an episode of Captain Planet in which one of the Planeteers stands up for the plight of the shark. I remember her declaring that it was more likely for a person to be hit by a falling plane than to be attacked by a shark. I’m not sure if the numbers check out on that, but I appreciated what she was trying to say. Namely that sharks have had a pretty bad PR run ever since Jaws came out half a century ago. We humans have a weird cultural obsession with the notion of becoming shark food, when the fact of the matter is that sharks are far from the deadliest aspect of a trip to the beach. The ocean itself ranks much, much, much higher, and right under that is the most dangerous animal of all: humans!!
You ever think about that, Mr. Cousteau?!? Maybe we humans are the real dangerous animals!! You picking up what I’m putting down?!? WE’RE the animals, brah. It’s pretty crazy ifyathinkaboutit. I’m so deep. Like Mariana Trench deep.
Dangerous Animals, the latest from Sean Byrne, the filmmaker behind The Loved Ones and The Devil’s Candy, two of the most awesomely depraved horror flicks ever to horror flick, makes it very clear that sharks will totally eat you if given the motivation, but a person will totally feed you to sharks just to be a dick.
Case in point: Bruce Tucker (Jai Courtney), a marine tour guide who offers tourists a chance to swim with sharks. Customers are placed in an underwater cage, allowing them to safely see cinema’s favorite predator up close and personal. Tucker is a charming guy, complete with all the disarming quirks that make visitors to a foreign land feel comfortable. He’s playful and a bit goofy, and when you least expect it he’ll kill you in cold blood, or, if you’re particularly unlucky, he’ll ritualistically feed you to sharks via a sort of “human fishing line” contraption. When surfer and wandering soul Zephyr (Hassie Harrison) finds herself in the crosshairs of Tucker’s metaphorical (and sometimes literal) harpoon gun, it’s a race against the clock to free herself from captivity before feeding time.
The plot is small and contained, taking place almost entirely on Tucker’s boat and in near-real time. Even so, there’s a bit of room on the front end to develop Zephyr into a character who is worth caring about beyond her station as the presumed “final girl.” A meet-cute romance between her and a fellow surfer (Josh Heuston) adds personal stakes and gives us some cleanly exposited background info as to why Zephyr is wandering Australia on her own. While the film could’ve easily gotten away with executing its simple plot within a vacuum, this successful attempt at character depth is welcome, and is efficiently capitalized upon in the film’s final reel. It helps that Harrison and Heuston have a chemistry that’s easy to buy. Horror romances are often shoehorned in, but that’s not the case here.
The real star of the show is Courtney, a talented actor who has yet to find the right role to match his abilities. I’ve always found him a believable tough guy, but he’s not often given the opportunity to dig deeper than just surface level gruffness. Here he finally gets to show off. Tucker is a genuinely scary presence, and it’s easy to see why he’s such a successful killer: Courtney turns the charm on and off with the flick of a switch, creating an unhinged and unpredictable villain. And with Tucker’s methods being ritualistic, it requires an actor who will sell the idea that there’s a method to his madness. By the time Tucker is waxing philosophical about sharks while dishing out requisite carnage, Courtney gets us there. His is a character that could’ve gotten by on a suitably big performance with little depth, but Courtney gives us more than what’s on the page.
As for the horror elements, Byrne delivers on his typical brand of gnarly, frankly depicted violence. The shark attacks are not heightened, and that’s what makes them so effective. Sure it’s fun when the titular Meg chomps a boat in half, or piranhas reduce a body to bone in seconds, but sharks selectively nipping at their prey — a chunk here, a nibble there — is the sort of primal provocation that exploits the viewer’s inner prey animal. For all your hopes and dreams to be dashed in the name of becoming a meal is horrifying enough, but to be fully aware as it’s happening?!? Oof, I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy (lol jk yes I would).
Directed by Sean Byrne
Written by Nick Lepard
Starring Hassie Harrison, Jai Courtney, Josh Heuston, Ella Newton
Rated R, 98 minutes
