ironhorse_iv Review of Sharknado

Sharknado (2013 TV Movie)

Sharknado is a disaster movie indeed! Disasters come in many forms. But none quite like this. It was awful, but funny! It indeed jump the shark.

[4/10 · 8 April 2014]

Directed by Anthony C. Ferrante, Sharknado was a Syfy Channel made-for-television disaster horror B movie that somehow become more popular due to its outlandish concept and attention-getting title. As less, it's not a mockbuster as most Asylum productions are. After all, where else would you see a movie about a Twister that lifts sharks out of the ocean and deposits them in Los Angeles!? The movie is about Surfer and bar-owner Fin Shepherd (Ian Ziering) who sets out with his friends, Baz (Jaason Simmons) and Nova Clarke (Cassie Scerbo) to rescue his estranged wife April Wexler (Tara Reid) and teenage daughter Claudia Shepherd (Aubrey Peeples). On the way, they decide to try to stop the incoming storm by tossing bombs into them from a helicopter. Will the dumb idea work, or will the perfect storm overtake them!? Without spoiling too much, first off, I think Ian Ziering and Tara Reid might be a little too young for their characters. It's hard to believe that Matt (Chuck Hittinger) is the adult son of both April and Fin. The actor that plays Matt is only a few years younger than both Reid and Ziering. It's also a bit odd for the first half of the film trying to build up a romantic relationship between Fin and Nova. I guess, the writers were trying to do a metaphor, as Nova speak in a barely coherent rip-off Jaws monologue about being a victim of a prior shark attack of which she was the Sole Survivor and Fin just happen to have a shark name. Yes, when I think of shark hunter Quint, I think of a woman that hates her scar on her thigh, but gladly wear short shorts all the time. I find Nova's attention turned to Matt, disturbing after Fin reconciles with April. All the acting in this movie is pretty bad. At less, most of the half-been actors such as Ian Ziering got work. During the time of filming, he had another child on the way and he needed to work after not working for a long time. He wasn't that bad, but gees, half of the stuff, he did, is nearly unbelievable. Not only does Fin has improbably aiming skills, taking over several falling sharks that are several hundred feet with a pistol, but able to lit a pool on fire with kerosene. The movie jump the shark, literally when Fin manages to use a chainsaw to cut a shark in half as it falls on him. He also enters a shark's mouth and cuts his way out not only being unharmed himself. Yep, that was stupid, but epic. Even minor cameos like John Heard as George and Robert Rist as the Robbie, the bus Driver, got a paycheck by acting badly as stupid characters. The worst had to be, Tara Reid. She is just horrible in this movie. Not only does she play a bitchy character, but her deep, raspy voice is just annoying and dull reply. She can't act. She is basically useless in the film. I was really hoping she would get eaten. She even didn't wanted to help the kids on the bus. Wow! Just Wow. I can't believe how unlikeable, her character is. It's not all her fault. Most of cast had little to no emotion when anyone's death. The movie takes so many artistic license that this movie makes biologist cry! The reason why is sharks in this film seem to be able to survive on land and in the air, but also fresh water rather than salty ocean. Honestly, I don't know, how these sharks are able to survive such a huge fall from the sky in the first plan! These sharks are suicidal as hell like jumping out of water, swimming in 3 inches of rainfall or going through windows to kill people. What the hell? Why are they always hungry!? Also, this movie probably has no clue, how weather works. One minute, the surf is calm, then 20-30 foot wave crash thru windows at bars on the pier, then the ocean is calm. Streets are bone dry after a hurricane passes then, surprisingly, streets are flooded. Hurricanes pass in minutes. Did anybody bother watching the Weather Channel? Hurricanes hitting Los Angeles are very rare. The movie was trying to make a message about Global warming, but it's lost in the horrible visual effects. The CGI is just awful, both in the sharks design and others. The movie even has the guts to use badly edit stock footage of sharks in the wildlife. Honestly for a shark movie, most of the kills are from other things like getting crush by the Hollywood sign or getting run over by a rolling dismounted Ferris wheel. Lot of bad editing and horrible camera work. Anachronism will have a field day with this. The writing is pretty bad. Lots of bad dialogue with awful puns, or bad jokes. The worst is the period joke. Overall: Sharknado has become a cult film to the point that a sequel, Sharknado 2: The Second One will come out. People love a movie with an idea that is so preposterous and inconceivable that the only appropriate responses are to watch and laugh. Gloriously brainless, Sharknado redefines "so bad it's good" for a new generation. You just have to have suspension of disbelief to watch this movie. Enough Said.