Toxic Shark (2017)

Did Jaws finally get a worthy successor? Should Spielberg be worried? Should you just skip the review and go watch this jawsome movie right away?

The answer to these questions is no, but it doesn’t mean you won’t enjoy it.

To see if this one fits the profile of what you like, we should first make sure you know what to expect. The first and obvious would be to love shark horror. If you have this covered, it’s important to dig deep and explore this crazy genre.

There are two completely different styles when it comes to scary shark movies. The First would be the general approach seen in the Jaws franchise. The second one is of course, the B-Horror approach with the generic use of CGI and over-the-top acting. So where does our Toxic Shark fit in?

Well, it’s obvious it gravitates more to the B-Horror bunch. Without knowing more, you could easily mistake it for Virus Shark, but trust me Toxic Shark > Virus Shark. In the vast ocean of not so good shark films such as 2-Headed Shark, Land Shark (not to be confused with slightly better Sand Sharks), Raiders of the Lost Shark, Shark Exorcist, Avalanche Sharks and Sharkenstein… Toxic Shark holds its ground and mimics the more successful films such as everyone's favorite Sharknado or Sharktopus.

The plot is simple: three best friends go to a tropical singles resort off the coast of Puerto Rico. Unknown to the guests the shady owner hides the fact that something is polluting the water, and on top of that the staff members are starting to disappear. We immediately know that there is something dangerous lurking in these waters but it’s a fun wild ride trying to guess who survives till the end. NO Spoilers!

Now that you know it’s "good," let’s get through all the positives that you might enjoy. The shark fires acid on its victims and also releases a toxin in the surrounding waters to infect people. The CGI of the shark killing people in deep, shallow or near the water is awesome. "Interesting" take on the infection. Some great one-liners. Epic final battle between our protagonist and the shark.

To be fair, let us also cover some things people point out as the “negatives.” I sometimes like to call these as “things we love for the wrong reasons”. The editing is questionable, the dialogs are so crazy it feels the movie was dubbed, the acting is campy, the explosions are bad CGI and you’ll need great imagination to fill in the gaps of some "minor" plot holes. But hey, a lot of movies struggle with similar issues and still manage to be fun. 

Here comes the only negative aspect of the film. Once the director chooses to go with the campy B-horror comedy style, the scare effect drops significantly and the film has to rely on a strong cast and multiple action scenes to keep the story going. Fortunately for us viewers, there are plenty of action scenes!

Toxic Shark is a standard B-horror that will keep you entertained if you are a fan of campy shark films. Good pick for a casual goofy horror movie night with your friends.