Shark Bait (2006)

User Rating:

4.2/10   

Directors:

Howard E. Baker
John Fox

Writers:

Scott Clevenger (screenplay)
Chris Denk (story)

Release Date:

7 July 2006 (South Korea)

Genre:

Animation | Family

Tagline:

The adventure continues (Israeli tag-line)

Plot:

One fish must find his destiny to save his home and the love of his life from a bullying shark.

Plot Keywords:

Shark | Fish | Turtle | Computer Animation | Scene During End Credits

Cast

Freddie Prinze Jr.	...	Pi (voice)
Rob Schneider	...	Nerissa (voice)
Evan Rachel Wood	...	Cordelia (voice)
Donal Logue	...	Troy (voice)
Andy Dick	...	Dylan / Curious Shark (voice)
Fran Drescher	...	Pearl (voice)
John Rhys-Davies	...	Thorton (voice)
R. Lee Ermey	...	Jack (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Bruno Alexander	...	Pi's Dad (voice)
Brice Beckham	...	Green Gossiping Fish / Cynical Shark (voice)
Jimmy Bennett	...	Young Pi (voice)
Dylan Cash	...	Young Percy (voice)
Michael Cornacchia	...	Angler Fish (voice)
Richard Epcar	...	Moe (voice)
David Fickas	...	Max / Squid No. 3 / Big Shark (voice)
Trent Ford	...	Percy (voice)
Reedy Gibbs	...	Pi's Mom (voice)
Joel Michaely	...	Lou (voice)
Megahn Perry	...	Percy's Mum / Female Parrotfish (voice)
Matthew Rauch	...	Mussel No. 2 / Sponge / Buddy (voice)
Mel Rodriguez	...	Manny, Dr. Tang (voice)
Tahnee Shah	...	Prawn (voice)
Tia Shah	...	Prawn (voice)
Kirk Zipfel	...	Mussel No. 1 / Squid No. 1 (voice)

Also Known As:

The Reef (South Africa: English title) (UK)
Pi's Story (South Korea)
The Pearl (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

USA:77 min

Country:

USA | South Korea

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Certification:

USA:G | Brazil:Livre | Ireland:G | Netherlands:6 | Portugal:M/6 | Finland:K-7 | South Korea:All | New Zealand:G | Singapore:G | Australia:G

Company:

Digi Art

Quotes:

[imitating Darth Vader from ‘Star Wars V’]
Sharp-toothed baddie sidekick: I am your father. Come to the dark side. Oh wait - you can't come to the dark side because you're not evil enough.

Movie Connections:

References The Ten Commandments (1956)

Soundtrack:

Live & Loose

Avoid watching this film at all costs

Truly, this is an awful film. I loved Finding Nemo and I enjoyed Shark Tale, and I saw this film expecting it to be less good than either of these films but worth a watch none-the-less. This was not the case.

Obviously I am not the target audience for this film. I am seventeen and this film is clearly aimed at children much younger than myself. However, most children's films are made bearing in mind that they will mostly be seen by adults as well. This film can't have been - there are no jokes for kids, let alone adults. The whole thing feels like a bad computer game; an impression emphasised by the bizarre pause that follows everything any of the characters say. The ending, especially, gives the impression that somewhere there's a kid with a console playing out the action.

Not everything in this film is appalling. Sometimes - just sometimes - it comes up with something that really is moving or humorous. However, the tears and the laughter quickly dry up when you remember that you saw the exact thing in Finding Nemo or Shark Tale, only better. The level of plagiarism this film reaches was previously unknown to me. Never before had I seen anything that ripped off anything else to the degree that this film does. Even Freddie Prinze Jr.'s enthusiastic vocals can't lift this one - he's clearly trying his best and, although his best is not wonderful, it shouldn't have found its way into a film this poor.

Overall, the animation is shocking, the characterisation is non-existent and the story has clearly been stolen and dumbed-down until it means nothing, makes no sense and makes the audience feel far more willing to buy that Finding Nemo DVD. Avoid. This. Film.