Dangerous Animals ★★★

JAI Courtney may have found his true calling.

To date, despite appearing in a dozen or so international films, including instalments of major franchises like Die Hard and The Terminator, the burly Australian hasn’t set the industry alight.

Last year’s great, locally-made family adventure Runt enabled him to show a comic side which he did well.

With 2025’s Dangerous Animals he has now entered the horror genre with a vengeance and does a very good job, perhaps some of his best work.

His character harks back to Mick Dundee, Australian cinema’s most famous serial killer from the Wolf Creek franchise.

But the manner in which Courtney plays calmly deranged charter boat operator Tucker for some reason doesn’t just feel like imitation, veering more wildly and entertainingly between the serious and comedic.

The film has a good shock opening with tourists Greg and Heather getting much more than they bargained for after heading out with Tucker for one of his shark cage experiences.

Heather finds herself chained up in Tucker’s mobile dungeon awaiting her turn to be hung out over the boat and fed to sharks while Tucker gleefully films the proceedings for replay later while having his dinner.

We are introduced to a couple of other characters who eventually join her, one of whom proves to be quite a handful for our shark-loving killer.

Nick Lepard’s first script may largely be a by-the-numbers effort, but combining the key tropes of shark thriller and serial killer is a clever idea that should please plenty of viewers out for a good, dumb time with friends at the movies.

It’s all presented very efficiently by director Sean Byrne who knows his way around a horror movie having been previously responsible for the highly-regarded The Loved Ones (2009) and The Devil’s Candy (2015).

Watched at the cinema.