Sharknado has been one of the surprise minor hits of the year. A made for television B-movie that has crossed over into cinema screenings in some countries, Sharknado has won many fans (James seems to have enjoyed it) and created a lot of online buzz.
I wanted to like this preposterous little film. The premise, like much of the plot and special effects is outrageous. The acting, what little of it there is, is fine. Ian Ziering gives a decent performance as the reluctant hero Fin Shepard, John Heard is amusing as the bar-fly George, Tara Reid is alarmingly, almost amusingly wooden as Fin’s estranged wife April Wexler and there is some much needed light and spark from Cassie Scerbo as Fin’s wannabe love interest (and resident shark-hater) Nova Clarke.
Despite coming in at only 86 minutes, Sharknado overstays its welcome and the set pieces feel drawn out and slow. And, the inconsistent special effects (and use of stock footage) feel less like low production values played for laughs and more like, well, low production values born of a lack of creative commitment.
Sharknado is meant to be a bit of harmless stupid entertainment, something to watch with friends over pizza and a few drinks. However, this one really tested the limits of how stupid I wanted to be in search of and hour and a half of fun. The answer was, not this stupid.
