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  • 1 week ago
Film Brain reviews this Australian WWII horror thriller, where a group of soldiers survive their boat sinking, but soon find themselves up against a shark, in the proud tradition of Jaws!

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00:00A group of Aussie soldiers find themselves up against a shark in the World War II horror
00:04thriller, Beast of War.
00:06Set in 1942, a ship with hundreds of Australian troops on their way to the front line is sunk
00:11by Japanese bombers.
00:13Only a handful survive on a makeshift raft, but foggy conditions means low chance of rescue
00:18and even worse, their injuries have drawn the attention of a shark.
00:23Written and directed by Kea Roach-Turner, who previously held in the Wormwood franchise
00:26and giant spider flick Sting, Beast of War claims to be inspired by truer events, in
00:31particular the sinking of the HMAS Armadale, the survivors of which were not attacked by
00:36sharks in reality, but the director's credits should let you know this is not aiming to be
00:40a realistic war film.
00:42I could tell I was going to enjoy the film from the opening training scenes, which set
00:46up the dynamics of the characters and the camaraderie between them, and while they may not be fully
00:50fleshed out figures, they're distinct enough to watch and cheer for.
00:54Finally charismatic is the film's lead, Mark Cole Smith, as indigenous soldier Leo, who
00:59was haunted by his brother's death in a shark attack, and befriends Joel Nankovic's
01:03will by standing up for him, particularly from bullying coward Des Kelly, who soundelic
01:09makes more than a one-note bigot.
01:11There's a pulpy vibe mixed with a dark, distinctly Australian sense of humour, like
01:16agreeing that having to drink your own piss is still better than having a Fosters.
01:21The Jaws and the famous speech by Quint about the sinking of the USS Indianapolis is a massive
01:25inspiration on the film, and it's also a damn sight better than the rubbish Nicolas
01:29Cage movie they made about the latter, but Roach-Turner also uses a mostly practical shark,
01:35which is a fin above a sea of lazy, cheap CGI-heavy shark films.
01:40Filmed mostly on an indoor water tank, the largest in Australian history apparently, the film
01:45ops for a very stylised, almost comic book look, with a combination of smoke, fog and
01:50LED lights never really hiding that it's a set, but the blood orange and red skies are
01:55very striking looking.
01:57Moreover, Roach-Turner knows to keep a steady supply of tension and limb chomping with plenty
02:02of gruesome injury effects, but also some genuine edge-of-your-seat suspense, like a sequence
02:07where Smith has to jump across debris to get to a motorboat.
02:11As their supplies and numbers dwindle, Roach-Turner keeps things varied and avoids repetition,
02:16even managing to throw in a late-film fight scene and a damaged siren that the shark swallows
02:21is a cheeky nod to the crocodile in Peter Pan.
02:25It might not have the depth that it claims for in the production notes, but Beast of War
02:28is delivered with B-movie panache, especially thanks to a tight 87-minute running time that
02:34makes this a lean, mean, goryly good time, a rare example of a good modern shark film to
02:40watch with your charms.
02:42This and Dangerous Animals proves that the Aussies are leading the revival in this sub-genre.
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