Shark movies are always a welcome treat in this household. Same with serial killer flicks. Now what happens when you combine them? Why you get the pure gold of DANGEROUS ANIMALS.
The movie starts with two tourists on a shark boat expedition. They get to dive in shark cages and survive it. However, they don’t quite survive Tucker (Jai Courtney), the owner and pilot of the boat, as he kills the man and abducts the woman.
Cut to Zephyr (Hassie Harrison), a van-living American hanging out in Australia to do some surfing. Along the way she meets Moses (Josh Hueston), a real-estate agent who needs her help to start his car. He might be dressed like a Mormon serial killer, but he’s actually a decent guy and the two hit it off talking about surfing and Creedence Clearwater Revival. However she sneaks away in the morning to surf without him, leaving the poor man heartbroken.
This turns out to be a bad move on Zephyr’s part as she runs into Tucker, who promptly snatches her and brings her back to his boat. There she finds Heather, the tourist from the beginning who is still alive, but not for long, as Tucker plans on feeding her to the sharks, as that is his kink. Will either of them escape this horrible fate? Will Moses track down his new lady love and save her? It’s a race against time and tide to find out against all sort of…dangerous animals.
See what I did there? I apologize for that.
DANGEROUS ANIMALS is a fun and slick ride, combining the tension of tracking down a serial killer and escaping from him with the fear of being devoured alive by some of the meanest things the ocean has to offer. It looks pretty and gritty and the gore is sparingly but effectively used. I haven’t seen anything by director Sean Byrne or writer Nick Lepard but they really knocked it out of the park on this one, crafting a film you can sink your teeth into and chew on for a while. Would wouldn’t think the combo of serial killers and sharks would work but it does here and it keeps you on the edge of your seat.
Hassie Harrison is great as Zephyr, a drifter who doesn’t really want any attachments and just wants to have a good time. Took me a bit to realize she was a damn barrel racer from Yellowstone. Definitely gets to show more of her range her and it is appreciated.
The standout of this movie for me is Jai Courtney. He’s always getting misused in movies by having him be a strait-laced hero when we have seen from the Suicide Squad movies that he is amazing as a deranged killer. He’s a little more restrained here than he was as Captain Boomerang, but he still gets to let his lunacy fly, playing a shark-obsessed serial killer who has a penchant for old video cameras and tapes so he can replay his greatest hits. He really elevates this from an already solid film to an all-timer.
If you’re looking for a fun way to spend a Friday Night as the summer winds down or to get your spooky season off to an early start, check it out.
