Review of Sharknado (2013) by Helen E — 11 Oct 2014

Wow, it appears far too many people are uptight to embrace the stupidity of a film like Sharknado. Of course the film was going to be stupid as can be, what else were you expecting from a film made by The Asylum, which then debuted on the SyFy Channel, and its most famous star is Tara Reid? Those three things alone should be be a clear indicator that what you're about to watch is really dumb, but the premise officially seals the deal. I love it because I'm a B-movie lover, and I will tell you why I recommend it to be people who enjoy these types of films.

The film focuses on a freak storm which not only causes water tornadoes, and massive waves, but said tornadoes end up picking up a bunch of sharks in the process...all of which are heading directly to Los Angeles.

What starts off as a beautiful day at the beach for a group of friends turns into a nightmare when the storm full of sharks reaches the shore, massacring people, destroying buildings, causing floods, and a host of other issues.

Now, the group of friends, led by a guy named Fin, must go rescue his estranged wife and children, while also trying to find a way to survive the storm and the onslaught of widespread shark attacks as they rain down from the sky.

The story is of course, incredibly stupid. But, it's quite refreshing to watch a film made by The Asylum that doesn't take itself too seriously. A lot of people find its random and stupid attitude to be aggravating, but many films made by this particular production company have been quite boring because they take themselves way too seriously despite their very low budget hindrances and a high school play levels of acting capabilities.

Sharknado is refreshing because it knows precisely how dumb it is and it embraces its goofy nature to the fullest degree, relishing in every wildly over the top moment, every moment of Z-grade drama, its tacky special effects, goofy acting, and glorious shark mayhem. The story loves to throw all kinds of ridiculous shit at the viewer and it is never boring because of this - that is, if you enjoy B-movies.

As far as acting goes, of course the acting is terrible. But, there was no possibility of any actor churning out a good performance with such a hokey script. But, the actors are certainly not boring and appear to be having a great time with their stupid roles and the bizarre scenarios their characters find themselves in (Like blowing up tornadoes with explosives from a helicopter, or when the character Fin leaps directly into the mouth of a Great White with a chainsaw, is swallowed whole, cuts his way out of the shark, and then pulls out another character who was eaten by the shark and saves her. I fucking love this film because of ridiculous shit like this). You also know you're in for some pretty bad acting when the most famous star this film's budget could afford was "still-can't-act" Tara Reid who is still just as vacant and lifeless in her performance as ever and by the far the weakest in a cast of unknowns starring in a cheesy B-movie.

As far as action goes, there is plenty of shark mayhem and disaster sequences to be found in this film, making it feel like what would happen if you took Jaws 3 and Deep Blue Sea and combined them with a Roland Emmerich disaster film, then gave said film combination a low budget and the people who made it smoked a whole lot of crack in the process. It is absolutely insane and bizarre in every degree. It's one hell of a wild ride that never stops to take a breath.

Sharknado is only for B-movie fans, no one else. If you're up for bloody shark mayhem, disaster sequences, tacky special effects, Z-grade drama, hilariously awful acting, and many other stupid elements, you're in for a really good time, as Sharknado is set to go down as one of the greatest B-movies of the century. I love it.