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Directed/Written by Kiah Roache-Turner.
Check out the trailer here!!
A troop of fresh-faced Australian soldiers are attacked by Japanese forces during WWII in the Timor Sea. When their ship is destroyed, the few survivors find themselves clinging to debris from the battle and facing a giant Great White Shark who is circling them for dinner.
I love me some shark horror. I love it so much I even wrote a low budget one myself called SHARK WATERS and am in the process of writing a second one as I write this review. There are plenty of shark films out there to watch, but the likelihood of them being good is around the same chances of catching a good Bigfoot flick. So, I understand the groan many of you might utter every time a new shark movie comes out.
But BEAST OF WAR is a good one as it tells a semi-original tale of man vs beast and adds some international and historical flavor to the mix. Sure, we’ve all heard of the tale Quint told in JAWS about the USS Indianapolis and how after surviving an arial attack, the floating soldiers faced scores of sharks in the water. But surely that can’t be the only time this type of occurrence happened. Turns out it wasn’t, as the story in BEAST OF WAR is based on true events, or at least that’s what the opening scribe tells us.
What transpires is a rock-solid action horror jaunt that places our survivor inches away from the chomping jaws of death. Filmmaker Kiah Roache-Turner paces the action well, taking his time to introduce these soldiers in boot camp and even attaches an interesting theme; the necessity of teamwork in order to survive in war. Being the director of both WORMWOOD movies as well as last year’s STING, Roache-Turner know action and keeps the thrills fast and furious from beginning to end, but doesn’t rely simply on the shark for those high tension moments.
But alongside of the sharky moments, the theme of teamwork is played out through three characters; the alpha male Aborigine Leo (played by Mark Coles Smith), the weaker Will (Joel Nankervis) and Des (Sam Delich). When the self-centered Des refuses to help Will out of a deep mud pit during training, Leo steps up to save Will. This causes a rift between Leo and Des who is punished for the selfish act while Leo and Will are rewarded for the teamwork. This rift continues through boot camp and then on the warfront after they are all survivors of the attack with a shark stalking them. In order for these guys to get out of this situation, they need to put sour feelings behind them. That’s a decent motivator for the group, more than just happening to be on a beach for some fun in the sun like many a shark flick.
The strong acting is another factor that sets BEAST OF WAR apart from the rest of the shark frenzy. Mark Coles Smith is a strong leading man as Leo, conflicted with a loss of his little brother Archie (played by Aswan Reid) to a shark as a kid. While his buddy Will (played by Joel Nankervis) is sort of nebbish and too reliant on Leo as a protector, he gets some moments to shine. And like any good villain, Sam Delich sticks to his guns as not a team player, even when it really isn’t fortuitous for him to do so as the selfish Des. There’s also a fun role for Sam Parsonson as a soldier with a massive head wound who is having hallucinations and spouts non-sequiturs to lighten the mood.
Finally, the shark itself. Gnarly. It’s all scarred up and looks this this isn’t his first rodeo. There are plenty of really great moments as the shark submerges and snags one of the soldiers. It looks like this is a combination of practical and digital effects and both are utilized well here, even though underwater, the open mouth shark looks a bit like a smiling Bruce from FINDING NEMO at times.
Roache-Turner does a lot with a little here. For the most part, BEAST OF WAR plays out like a single set play with the bulk of the action taking place on a floating piece of debris and the water around it. But through some nice drama, creative camera work and some especially good lighting, bathing the scenes in reds, blues, and blacks, the filmmaker delivers a visually stimulating film despite what looks to be a limited budget.
Every year there’s at least one shark horror movie of note. It might not be at JAWS level but still delivers enough thrills and chills to make for an effective reminder to never go swimming in the ocean again. BEAST OF WAR is that type of movie and if you’re like me, and sharks are your greatest fear, this film will surely stoke those fear flames some more.
