We have discussed Aussie movies a lot on the site this year and I am really happy that we it is something we are all talking about. Up until a solid release of Australian films have flooded our cinemas with Not Suitable For Children, The Sapphires and Kath & Kimderella, but turns out the latest Aussie flick Bait 3D falls so far from making the Australian movie industry look good, in fact it does the complete opposite and is a complete embarrassment of a film.
With disaster movies like this it is always good to leave your brain at the door and this is no exception. After the horror that was Sanctum 3D I really didn't think any other Aussie flick could do any worse, I have been proven wrong. A cast of actors who should know better, clunky and horrid dialogue combine with some average special effects and a premise of Jaws invading your local IGA results in this disaster of a movie.
Set in sunny Queensland (supposedly?) a tsunami hits a local beach flooding the town with water. The film features around survivors in a supermarket. Dead bodies are floating in the water, electrical cables are hanging low and the survivors discover some sharks swimming in the water below waiting to pick them off one by one.
All the characters are given a quick back story before the tsunami hits, the engaged couple who have their whole lives ahead of them, a troubled teen and her angry cop dad, a meathead jock and his gucci loving american girlfriend, all characters you just don't really care if they live or die. In fact the movie and dialogue is so bad you will find yourself praying for their death so you can leave the cinema and be done with it.
Cast wise it is quite solid with Xavier Samuel (Twilight Saga), Sharni Vinson (Step Up 3D) and Julian McMahon lead the film and this is honestly the worst performance I have seen from any of them. Guest appearances by Martin Sacks (The Cup, Blue Heelers) and Lincoln Lewis (Home & Away, Tomorrow When The War Began) keep the Aussie factor in check but everyone has a different accent, at times it can be confusing.
The script is clunky and with stereo typical Aussie dialogue it get's real old, real quick. I don't actually think I was scared or surprised at any stage of this movie as the horrid screen writing and terrible acting made it more of a comedy and any attempt to take this as anything else left the cinema.
The 3D was actually pretty good, when the tsumani first hits, it does look great in 3D and a few shark jumps have some great effect, and there are a lot of jellyfish and seaweed floating in the water to make for a great 3D effect.
The sharks however looks horribly un-realistic, and any attempt to make them seem like a viable threat is not present at all.
Overall this is the kind of film that makes you question how Screen Australia get funding to approve projects like this. Horrible dialogue, an obviously high budget result in a disaster of a movie and an embarrassment to add to the Aussie film directory.
Bait 3D is showing in cinemas everywhere, you have been warned!
Review by Alaisdair Dewar
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