Shark Night 3D

(15) 91 min

The avalanche of 3D releases may be slowing down but there’s still a few chuckles to be had with the format. Shark Night 3D has the flimsiest of plots as seven college kids head out for a weekend at a luxurious lake house in Louisiana only to be attacked by all manner of toothy fishy fiends.

The kids all conform nicely to movie stereotypes (the jock, the rich girl, the tart with a heart, the geek, etc) and as per usual they run into some belligerent red necks to add to their troubles. But the action really kicks off once the underwater predators start mistaking them for lunch.

Obviously it was never going to be as good as Jaws but it’s not even as good as Deep Blue Sea. The set up is so preposterous you wish they’d really go for it and milk every ludicrous drop of bloody action from the ‘sharks in a lake’ concept (a complaint you could also level at one of director David R Ellis’ previous films Snakes on a Plane - he seems to be Hollywood’s go-to-guy for dangerous animals in inexplicable places). Just don’t expect the tsunami of gore that made Piranha 3D such a giggle.

The explanation for why these various species of shark (big, small and gigantic) are in the lake is frankly ridiculous and most of the attacks scenes are over before any real tension is ever established. However, Ellis certainly knows how to make the 3D pop for 91 minutes of glossy vacuous entertainment, but you can’t ignore the fact Shark Night 3D is kinda rubbish.