‘Dangerous Animals': DoorDash for sharks
However, I must mention that Stuart Gordon's grisly splatter masterpiece, 'Re-Animator' also played at Cannes 40 years ago. But that film didn't run in the esteemed 'Directors' Fortnight' section like this one. Considering that the violent, gory genre mashup '
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Jai Courtney as Tucker in 'Dangerous Animals.' (AMC)
Mark Taylor/AMC
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Byrne takes his time with screenwriter Nick Lepard's story. We don't discover Tucker's sadistic execution method of choice until around the 40-minute mark. To keep us on edge, there's a cheeky pre-credits sequence that establishes Tucker's murderous credentials.
That opening scene introduces us to Heather (Ella Newton), a naïve tourist talked into going on Tucker's 'Swimming With Sharks' tour by the hunky guy accompanying her. When Tucker asks if they're a couple, Heather's hesitant reaction reveals that the guy is what the folks Down Under refer to as 'her bonk.'
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There's something off about Tucker. He seems amiable, but he asks questions that imply that Heather and her hook-up might be in danger. During the pre-boat conversation, he establishes that no one will miss these two people if they suddenly disappear. There's just enough menace mixed in to make observant people uneasy. He even makes the children's song 'Baby Shark' more terrifying than it already is.
Unfortunately for Heather, she can't hear the audience screaming 'Don't get on that boat, you fool!' After the duo visit the sharks in the typical shark-diving cave, Tucker stabs the guy to death and takes Heather hostage out on the open seas.
Hassie Harrison as Zephyr and Josh Heuston as Moses in 'Dangerous Animals.'
AMC
Next, we meet our hero/Final Girl, Zephyr (Hassie Harrison). She's a blonde surfer girl loner who fled to Australia for the tasty waves and the solitude. Her introduction is timed with a hilarious needle drop I won't reveal. And her Meet Cute with real estate agent Moses (Josh Heuston) hinges on blackmail: Either she'll allow Moses to use her jumper cables to restart his car, or he'll tell the 7-Eleven clerk she shoplifted.
'Trust me, I'm not a serial killer,' he tells her. Since the movie only has room for one madman, Zephyr believes him. Then she jumps his bones in her massive van. After ghosting him the next morning as he's making her breakfast, Zephyr runs afoul of Tucker. He knocks her out, and she wakes up handcuffed on his boat next to Heather.
Since she rocked his world so splendidly the night before, Moses becomes obsessed with finding out where Zephyr disappeared to in the morning. Like Heather, he's about to do something dumb simply because the sex was good.
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Once Zephyr is captured, 'Dangerous Animals' becomes a cat and mouse game between her and Tucker. Since they're both loners, he sees a connection. 'You're a fighter,' he tells her, which makes his sadistic game more fun.
Hassie Harrison as Zephyr and Jai Courtney as Tucker in 'Dangerous Animals.'
AMC
The film was shot on a real boat, so the location's interiors are claustrophobic but visually dull. But cinematographer Shelley Farthing-Dawe does wonders when we're not stuck inside. There are gorgeous images of the beach and the ocean. Tucker's boat is framed like an ugly orange aberration interrupting the blue majesty of sea and sky.
The actors are often shot in close-up, which adds to the trapped feeling. At one point, Farthing-Dawe's lighting gives Tucker's hair a spiky halo as he's monologuing to one of his victims. The cinematography can't help the CGI sharks, though. They look faker than 'Jaws''s infamous star, Bruce the Shark.
Kasra Rassoulzadegan's playful yet ominous editing is effective, even if the jump scares become redundant. And Michael Yezerski's rumbling score, while occasionally reminiscent of
'Dangerous Animals' falters by never gives Tucker a reason for his extreme, shark-based misogyny, nor does it make Zephyr an especially compelling Final Girl. Though Courtney and Harrison give their all, this is a slick-looking yet routine exercise that wastes an ideal premise.
★★1/2
DANGEROUS ANIMALS
Directed by Sean Byrne. Written by Nick Lepard. Starring Jai Courtney, Hassie Harrison, Josh Heuston, Ella Newton. At AMC Boston Common, Alamo Drafthouse Seaport. 98 min. R (brutal shark violence, steamy human sex)
Odie Henderson is the Boston Globe's film critic.
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