Sharknado 5: Global Swarming – The Novelty is Wearing Off

Have you ever watched something that was so bad, that it was actually good? Probably one of the best examples of this over the last few years has been the Sharknado series by the infamous low-budget studio called The Asylum. While some may think that it’s just bad, I have been a big fan of the series since the beginning and I eagerly anticipated their next entry but I will admit that there is only so much that can be done with the concept, however, I’ve felt the same way every year and I have always been surprised.

Synopsis: With much of America lying in ruins, the rest of the world braces for a global sharknado, Fin and his family must travel around the world to stop them.  (IMDB)

Starring: Ian Ziering, Tara Reid, and Cassandra Scerbo

Writer: Scotty Mullen

Director: Anthony C. Ferrante

Rating: TV-14

Running Time: 90mins

Trailer: 

If you would like to read any of my previous Sharknado reviews, click here.

Let’s just say that after five films, the novelty of it all is finally starting to wear off (for me at least) although this has already been the case for many people. The whole so bad that it’s good aspect of the series has worked for the most part but as mentioned, there’s only so far the series can go and this film is starting to show the signs of that. Compared to the previous four films in the series, it is more of the same, production value wise and that part of it still works, however, it is the story that really brings the film down this time around.

The story of each previous film has been rather simple, a sharknado comes out of nowhere and Fin (Ziering), his wife April (Reid), and others have to stop it. This film tries to stretch out the concept to make it more than it has any right to be by giving them some sort of ancient backstory that the characters discover early on (similar to Transformers: The Last Knight, a better film than this one). Ultimately, this doesn’t matter all that much as the plot becomes more convoluted, devoid of logic, and full of holes from that point on. Fin and April’s son Gil (Billy Barratt) gets caught up in a sharknado that they have to chase around the world and have relationship problems along the way. There is also a well-connected secret society of women for some reason, led by Nova Clarke (Scerbo), dedicated to stopping the sharknados. 

The series has usually been able to get away with these wonky plots but not this time. It’s big and silly, however, it becomes hard to turn your brain off and follow what was happening as very little made sense. The plot is also predictable in that it is driven by its constant use of faulty logic and plot holes to take the easy way out. There is still some fun to be had when it came to the sharks itself. The special effects were still terrible, however, there is still something entertaining about seeing them killing random people and various C to D level celebrities and seeing people kill them.

The acting is still terrible, more so here. Ziering has been the best part of the series so far but there was something about him that didn’t work here. Reid continued to be terrible here with her non-emotiveness and her lack of chemistry with Ziering. However, the script was even worse than the acting in that it was crammed with terrible dialogue, so much cheese, and numerous bad puns based on pop culture references. Most puns are funny, however, they were simply not here. As much as the story will be baffling, the end will be even more and fortunately or not, the series does not look to end anytime soon.

Overall, this wasn’t quite a so bad that it’s good kind of film but rather just a bad one. The elements that made the series what it is (i.e. terrible acting, a horrible story, and awful special effects) were still here but the terrible story and script didn’t make this entry as fun to watch as previous films and is getting old.

Score: 4/10

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.