Year of the Shark (3½ Stars)

This is the fourth film in the Stuttgart Fantasy Film Festival.

Maja Bordenave is a police officer responsible for keeping order on the sea at La Pointe in France. It's an easy job, but she takes it very seriously. She loves her uniform so much that she even wore it on her wedding day. After 27 years of service she's now 49 and can retire on a full pension. That's early! I should have become a policeman in France! Three days before her retirement she spots a shark swimming near the coast. Nobody believes her at first, because it's an area where there are no sharks.

"Year of the Shark" isn't an outright comedy, but there are many amusing incidents. A lot of the scenes are unsubtle copies of scenes from "Jaws", such as the mayor refusing to close the beach. My main criticism of the film is that after a steady build-up of the terror the final battle with the shark is brief. It looks like the budget didn't stretch to a big underwater fight. That's a shame. The film could have been better.