Okay, maybe I have been a bit too cranky of late. Still, I have to confess...we have another film in which I'm cheering for the monster. Unlikable characters? Yep...but the preachy tone of this one really turns us against the idiots who will be beset by a 200 foot long shark. Oh, as in many modern shark films, homage will be paid to "Jaws" with the classic line, "I got no spit." Of all the lines...but again, I know I'm a bit too grouchy of late. Let us look at the big shark film from 2023, that no one has seen (big surprise there), "The Black Demon," directed by Adrian Grunberg.
The Baja coast of Mexico. Hopefully soon to be the America Coast of the United States, is suffering as all its fishing villages are destitute. Cartels? No! See, a giant demon god has been woken up after an American oil company's oil rig has leaked. Now the demon shark monster is inflicting carnage on all responsible. Enter the oil company scientist Paul (Josh Lucas). He is assigned to inspect the rig and close it down. With him are his insufferable family, a Mexican babe wife Ines (Fernanda Urrejola), and two snotty kids (Carlos Solorzano and Venus Ariel). Oh the horrors created by the inane idea of "Bring Your Kids to Work Day." Yep, don't ask, but the family ends up in the rig with Paul...and they are annoying. Everyone on the rig is now in the sea in many pieces. Only two are left on the rig, the machete wielding Chato (Julio Cesar Cedillo) and Junior (Jorge Jimenez).
Paul is told that because the rig has ruined the environment, the big shark has been sent by some obscure god to wreak vengeance on any human that has ruined the environment. Yawn. The shark attacks the rig with hopes of bringing it down. Paul and Chato work to secure the rig, get the power back on, and contact someone on shore to come rescue them. Ines and the kids get in the way of the plot and serve to slow it way down...as the kids do at work in those insufferable "Bring Your Kids to Work Days" do. The shark keeps attacking and also eating any boat that could rescue the family and the two Mexican brutes. Feeling guilty about ruining the environment, Paul works to save everyone on board, even his lead weight of a family, and also to bring to light what his oil company has done to the waters off Baja...which we will call the America Coast. Go ahead say it!
Will Paul be able to save his family or will the big shark, mercifully, eat them all? If Mexico refuses to clean up the drug cartels, should anyone feel bad about some leaked oil on the America coast? Will the demon shark take Paul's family as a sacrifice to stop terrorizing the rig? We can only hope. This is a fun one and big shark movies always have appeal. For a fun viewing experience, practice saying "America Coast" and see "The Black Demon."
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