Sharknado 2
“Holy Shark!”
Directed by Anthony C. Ferrante, Scream of the Banshee (2011), with Ian Zeiring and Tara Reid returning and this time joined by the always stunning Kari Wuhrer and Ethan Hawke lookalike and lead singer of Sugar Ray Mark McGrath.
There’s a host of cameos too from Kurt Angle to Kelly Osbourne and Billy Ray Cyrus.
Be warned there might be spoilers
It starts of on a plane in the middle of a storm with a homage to the famous 1963 Twilight Zone episode Nightmare at 20,000 Feet with our two heroes from the first film on their way to New York when the plane is attacked by sharks in a scene that I found more enjoyable than I wanted to. The pilot is played by Robert Hayes from two of the funniest films ever made Airplane (1980) and Airplane II: The Sequel (1982)
There’s a hole in the plane and Tara Reid and a cop are holding on for dear life so they aren’t sucked out off the plane when the cop throws his gun to her which slides neatly across the floor and ends up in arms reach as she tries with all her might to pick it up.
She’s lucky that this gun isn’t affected by turbulence or the strong winds that are throwing the other passengers and anything not nailed down out of the plane. It just sits there patiently waiting to be picked up.
Oh dear this is going to be a chore to watch.
So Tara Reid has her hand eaten by a shark. If this was the first film I’d be laughing but her character is now very likeable and a huge improvement over the last film so maybe there’s hope for it. Well lets see if there are any other improvements in this sequel so I’ll start with the special effects.
Yes they’re better but that’s like saying the Titanic was a better ship than the Costa Concordia because it took less time to sink. The effects are better than the usual SyFy fare and to be honest work well for the film. Nothing spectacular but better than what you expect from these types of films. better but not by much.
The acting is a mixed bag. It’s bad but everyone seems to be caught up in the hysteria of the first film and is really going for it. From the cameos and especially the crowds, quite nice to see but overall the acting is nowt special and they seemed to have hired the only actresses that cannot scream.
There’s a scene where a taxi driver, played by Judd Hirsch playing the same role he had in Independence Day it seems, is eaten and the reaction from the group would fit perfectly in any Wayans Brothers film.
Some fun scenes are thrown in like a car being chased by the severed head of the Statue of Liberty which then blocks a tunnel out of the city. Something cruel about that which I liked and the weather broadcast informing people that sharks are falling at a rate of 2 inches an hour. Don’t think about that line too much as it doesn’t make any sense.
Ian gives the worst written speech which is saved by an incoming shark that he chainsaws in two in mid-air making it become one of the best ever speeches in film history.
Later Tara attaches a rotating saw to her stump. A sort of female equivalent to having a heavy chainsaw ala, well you know who.
From the hero riding a shark like a surf board or when he pulls out Tara’s severed hand from a sharks mouth at the end of the film still holding the gun you know you’ve watched crap.
I liked it. Sometimes it’s good to watch crap but a I should point out that it’s not good to be black woman in a main supporting role in this film. I hope it’s satire of the “black man always dies” trope because there are a few black female characters and they all die. It’s comical and hope no-one cries racism plus they are decent characters with two being good comic relief.
This was shown a few minutes after it was in the US which meant we also got the same amount of ad breaks and at the same times as America. They really have a lot of breaks over there and at the worst points in the film.
All in all worth a watch as long as you know what you are watching is definitely not near the pits of TV movies but not near a decent straight-to-video release.
But we are horror fans which means we’ve watched shite before and liked it.
Also what I learned from this is that sharks roar
