Competition arises every year as movies are put out with the hope of becoming one of those prototypical, summer classics. Most people look to theaters to find them. Few would expect that the next legendary summer movie would premier on television instead.
Such is the case with SyFy’s latest (and, arguably, greatest) endeavor, “Sharknado.” With its trademark low-quality acting and production, the network seems to have created a genre all its own. Released just in time to get the entire population totally stoked for Shark Week, “Sharknado” has all of SyFy’s signature qualities, but what puts it over the edge, as both a SyFy and summertime classic, is simply that it has so much more than that to bring it to the network’s already eccentric movie repertoire.
Jaws meets hurricane season
While “Sharknado” isn’t outwardly about any particular storm, moments occur that are reminiscent of last year’s storm season, particularly Hurricane Sandy. In between frames, home video-style sequences of flash floods, drowning and a general feeling of terror almost come off as footage from an actual storm.
Those short sequences may be of the highest production quality of the entire movie simply because they are the most realistic (except when flying sharks have been inserted into the frame).
These sequences are easy to overlook because the rest of the movie is so out-there and the images of sharks being whipped around tornadoes and water sours are distracting, to say the least. But who watches SyFy for the realism, anyway?
Paying homage
“Sharknado” is peppered with noticeable references to the actual best summer/shark movie of all time, “Jaws.” It’s hard to make a movie about sharks without paying homage to the quintessential shark film, so much so that it would almost be in bad form not to reference “Jaws” at least once. For example, a handful of memorable character deaths from “Jaws” were recreated in sub-par CGI quality in the new SyFy original and a few popular one-liners were also cleverly inserted into various scenes. “Sharknado” took every opportunity to pay respect to the film and it only made the B movie that much better. If one was to develop a “Sharknado” drinking game, one would most certainly be required to take a drink for each reference.
We finally know Tara Reid is alright
After effectively falling off the map for a few years (she’s been in three movies that made it to theaters since 2005, the rest of which went directly to DVD), Ms. Reid stars as the ex-wife of the film’s hero, Fin (played by Ian Ziering of “Beverly Hills 90210”).
While she didn’t do the best job portraying an angry and bitter ex, she didn’t look the least bit corpsey. Rather, she outwardly appeared to have her shit together and seemed well-rested and half-focused through the entire movie.
Good for you, girl.
Creative new defensive moves against sharks
While the “Worst Case Scenario Survival Handbook” method of punching a shark on the nose does make an appearance, most of the new, defensive tactics against shark attacks in “Sharknado” involve a chainsaw or similar device. The intensity of these maneuvers increases as the movie progresses and Ziering enjoys some of the most badass kills possible. These extreme shark kills would make a fine addition to the aforementioned hypothetical “Sharknado” drinking game.
These things combine and actually make the traditionally sub-par acting and production less noticeable. They also made this viewer jump out of her seat and pace around the room while throwing her hands in the air and making guttural sounds from the depths of her diaphragm out of disbelief a handful of times.
And good news, a sequel to “Sharknado” has already been announced to be released next year.