After the release of Jaws into theaters nearly 50 years ago, the onslaught of sharks on the silver screen has been surging and steady. That wave of shark flicks continues to crash onto feature-length tides, both indie and big-budget, such as House Shark and The Meg. Director Mark Polonia and writer Bando Glutz enter the depths of underwater horror again with Jurassic Shark 3: Seavenge.
A new oil rig dug too deep into the earth’s surface, releasing an ancient presence from the depths of the water. The rig is destroyed, workers are missing, and mystery surrounds the incident. Meanwhile, a band of thieves has absconded with a priceless work of art pertaining to film history. Thrown into the chaos is an up-and-coming model, Bree (Jada Sanchez), who gets the opportunity to be interviewed live on local television on a “yacht” down by the dock. After the interview, Bree, her manager, and the television cameraman end up being held hostage and taken out to sea by the art thieves. The group encounters the dark presence unearthed by the oil rig, and it is, as the title suggests, a shark!
The plot of Jurassic Shark 3: Seavenge is goofy, the acting is over the top, and the sound effects are wacky. The movie is straight-up bonkers. Watching it stone-cold sober in the morning, sipping a cup of coffee, was probably not the ideal situation for viewing this flick, but those were my circumstances. The filmmakers do everything they can to stretch out the run time. Stock footage is used repeatedly to fill in gaps in the story. Complete scenes from earlier are shown a second time in their entirety through flashbacks. Techniques like this make the movie seem way longer than it really is. Oh yeah, and the opening credits double as the closing credits. Nice.
“…encounters the dark presence unearthed by the oil rig, and it is, as the title suggests, a shark!”
This movie does everything it can to stretch the run time. Stock footage is used repeatedly to fill… just kidding!
Audio levels vary from dialogue so quiet that it is unintelligible to sound effects that are ear-piercingly loud. So be sure to have that volume control handy. The visual effects rely heavily on the green screen and mixing of mediums. The final reveal of the epic sharp-toothed antagonist is on display in the closing segments… in all of its paper mâché glory. And you know what? The shark is pretty cool looking, considering it was made out of strips of newspaper held together with glue. It’s basically Frankenstein’s monster in shark form, and it looks good!
Jurassic Shark 3: Seavenge has all the potential of being a cult classic but never achieves memorable status. There is a big fan base for shark attack movies, and this new entry would likely only appeal to those fans. If you do take the dive, consider watching this with friends and in an altered state for peak enjoyment.
"…all the potential of being a cult classic..."
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