Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘Dam Sharks’

Written by Scott Edwards

Companies try so many things to get their employees on the same page these days, and while nothing ever seems to work a hundred percent at making that happen, some attempts are welcomed. Team building exercises seem to be the best way to pull this off and while some people cannot stand these events, others love them to death, especially if they are at an off-site location. Getting away from the office for even a few hours with your co-workers can help remove some of the daily stress from your life. As time has shown, some companies do not have the personal touch when it comes to dealing with their employees and while their main focus is usually making money, there are still more valuable things to focus on.

Tanner Brooks is the head of Horizon Tech and makes sure that everyone knows it. Boasting about his own successes, he does not want to mention all the bad karma that now hangs over the company and has taken some of his prized employees for a team building event by the river. With only a few people actually knowing what is going on back at the office, Tanner has his remaining associates with him while the office has started its layoffs. Focused on the task at hand, Tanner’s team is ready for a day of team building that will make them stronger before they return to the office to find out what has happened to their company.

While upriver, Kate and Mark are checking on a large dam that has heavily cut the water flow downstream. Checking out the dam, Mark sees that it is not composed of only wood like every other dam, it has body parts thrown into the mix. Not being able to escape the fate of the dam, Mark is chomped by an unknown shark and Kate is set to face reality. The river is infested by sharks and she must do everything in her power to get all of the people in the area away from the water, along with blowing up the dam so the sharks can make their way back out to sea. With the help of Carl, she may be able to do just that, but little does she know that it is the sharks who are running the show.

As people are being chomped but not chewed, Kate sees that the sharks are the ones maintaining the dam, so they must be killed off as well. With only her rifle, Kate does her best to keep the sharks at bay, but with so many people along the river, it will take a bigger gun to keep them from finding their next piece of building material. Blowing up the first dam, Kate is sure that the sharks will try to rebuild further downriver and is ready to make the trek. Running into a small group of survivors from the Horizon Tech retreat, she points them in the right direction toward safety, but if she is not able to blow a hole in the bottom dam, nobody on the river will be safe from the shark-tacular threat. 

Dam Sharks, yup, and that is what they are, sharks that build dams to stay in their favorite feeding area. I cannot get past the body parts that are thrown into the dams and put into place with such precision for that matter, too. But really the movie is about John and Stella forming a bond over the shadiness that is taking place at their company with Tanner at the wheel. That and being hunted by sharks on the company retreat could drive anyone to quit their job and rethink life in more than one way. I cannot get over Tanner’s character and the craziness he exhibits before the shark attacks and then having to deal with the knowledge that he is the man after they strike. With so many people meeting their fates in the river, around and above it are no longer safe as the sharks are able to take their attacks airborne and they have some pretty good precision when it comes to headhunting. Stay Scared.

---