Australian director Kimble Rendall’s shark action thriller, Bait 3D has all the right ingredients: sincere love story, goofball love story, cute yappy little dog, good bad guy and bad bad guy. All unite in a meat grinder plot when two great whites are washed ashore in an earthquake produced title wave. A wave that half submerges a supermarket. Unbelievable? Face it, we’ve seen worse.
The 3D effects seem perfunctory, but watchable, as is the film, which relies a bit too heavily on stories we’ve seen before. The drama is skeletal and fleeting, combining some novel, albeit predictable, dramatic twists. While Bait doesn’t rise to the level of full blown drama, we’re left hoping it delivers some truly unique “shark bites man” stuff (as in the gory but more suspense-filled Piranha). But here. too we’re left wanting.
When lifeguard Josh (who is too hungover from a binge) lets best friend Rory paddle out to check on a buoy, we just know something bad will happen: Rory gets swallowed by a great white. Too grief stricken, Josh lets his relationship with Tina end with a whimper of guilt.
One year later, Josh, working at the Oceania supermarket, runs into Tina with her new boyfriend Steven (Qi Yuwu). At this point, were introduced to a grab-bag mix of characters who we guess will soon become chum for two great whites eager to snack on some “long pig” at the good old Oceania. 
As Bait unfolds, we meet supermarket manager (Adrian Pang) who fires store clerk Ryan (Alex Russell) when his girlfriend Jaime (Phoebe Tonkin) is caught shoplifting. The cop who arrives on the scene is none other Jaime’s fed up dad (Martin Sacks). There’s also Doyle (Julian McMahon) who holds up the supermarket with selfish thug Kirby (Dan Wyllie).
The ensemble characters of chum bait continues in the subterranean parking lot. Here, were introduced to the vacuous duo played by Lincoln Lewis and Cariba Heine, who are trapped in their car.
Things unwind rather predictably at this point as the good guys team up with one of the bad guys (they came to rob Oceania, but that pesky title wave and sharks got in the way) to outsmart the great whites and head for the exit without being eaten.
And therein lies the fun or lack of it. In a laughable tribute to Jaws, Steven is suited up in wire shelving and shopping baskets, which brings to mind Quint’s unforgettable warning, “Cage goes in the water, you go in the water. Shark’s in the water. Our shark. (sings) Farewell and adieu to you, fair Spanish ladies. Farewell and adieu, you ladies of Spain…”
Alex A. Kecskes is a published author of "Healer a Novel" available on Amazon. He has written hundreds of film reviews and celebrity interviews for a wide variety of online and print outlets. He has covered red carpet premieres and Comic-Con events for major films and independent releases.
