We all must accept the fact that Sharknado is basically a household name at this point. Anthony C. Ferrante created something that sparked an aberrant cult following and spawned five sequels, making it quite possibly the biggest mammoth that TV film has to offer.
Synopsis: Fin has to go back in time to rejoin his shark-battling friends to stop the first Sharknado and save humanity. (IMDB)
Starring: Ian Ziering, Tara Reid, and Cassandra Scerbo
Writer: Scotty Mullen
Director: Anthony C. Ferrante
Rating: n/a
Running Time: 90mins
Trailer:
In the latest and last installment in the franchise (or so they say), Fin (Ziering) and friends are once again pitted against the dreaded sharknado. Although, this time, there’s a lot more than just the animal-infested natural disaster they have to worry about. They also happen to be faced with time travel, medieval times, dinosaurs, magic potions, and how many pop culture references they can jam into 90 minutes. Spoiler alert: It doesn’t wind up very well.
No matter the poor qualities of the later entries of the series, which lose all touch with what made the first few so novel, you can’t help but greatly admire Ferrante and the rest of the crew for sticking with these films for so long. Although the quality of the films dropped significantly as they went on, the ambition and love that everyone involved possessed was still inherently clear. This could potentially add a whole new layer of understanding, maybe even forgiveness, for the unwatchable nature of these flicks as though there can be no forgiveness for what they’ve done here. Watching this film creates what only can be described as a soul-leaving experience. This was because everything that was being presented here was a brutal attack on every single emotion and sense; sensory overload taken to an unbearable level.
Scotty Mullen’s script is definitely ambitious, seeing as it features surrealism and rather distasteful historical references, but it is grossly apparent that SyFy’s budget was nowhere near enough to fulfill his vision. Poorly green-screened shark kills are one thing, but showing Adolf Hitler getting his head bitten off by a shark while in the midst of a lightning tornado just looks disgusting. It’s no longer novel, it’s just unbearable. It feels like there are a few moments where they are aware of how awful it all is and almost begin laughing at themselves, but even these sporadic moments feel far too abhorrent to be enjoyed. Actually, that last sentence could sum up the entire film, to be honest. The entire film is too grossly unlikable and off-putting to be taken for more than 10 minutes, at the absolute most.
It’s almost pointless to write about these films. Everyone who wants to watch them will, and everyone who doesn’t want to, well, won’t. There are two very distinct sides to the sharknado universe and both of them are unshakable. They could keep these films going for decades and millions of people would still gather around a television set, possibly medicated or intoxicated, to see just how ridiculous these things could get until the world finally gets sick of it all. It would be difficult to deny that morbid curiosity wouldn’t force this reviewer to sit down and watch every year as well. This seems to be the secret ingredient behind these films, creating an experience that’ll be reminiscent of a car crash; something so incompetent and horrendous, that you just can’t look away.
Score: 1/10
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