Mississippi River Sharks

I've been a fan of Misty Talley's works for a while now, and "Mississippi River Sharks" is another feather in her cap. The romantic subplot between Tara and her high school sweetheart, Eric, is touching and reminiscent of old flames many of us have experienced. Talley has a knack for presenting romance that resonates.

One of the standout aspects of this film is Talley's representation of strong female leads. Perhaps her perspective as a female director adds an authentic touch, making these characters both relatable and empowering.

But what truly had me grinning from ear to ear was the film-within-a-film concept. "Shark Bite", starring Jason London, is a delightful jest at cinematic clichés. Those parody subtitles, like "Shark Bite 2: Sharks in the Ozarks" and "Shark Bite 3: Prawn of the Dead", are just the kind of tongue-in-cheek humor I adore. It's a playful nod to film enthusiasts, making it a treat for casual viewers and movie buffs alike.

Here's hoping Talley might consider expanding on "Shark Bite" in the future. I, for one, would be front and center, popcorn in hand.

While not amazing for script, acting or effects....it's fun no thought movie... enjoyable popcorn film. Don't expect jaws or even deep blue sea level quality...no high expectations.

Watching Mississippi River Shark is like subjecting yourself to the worst kind of cinematic torture. The movie's budget must have been no more than a few dollars, because the special effects are laughably awful. The sharks look like something straight out of a cheap video game from the early 2000s, and they barely move in any way that resembles real life. The acting is so wooden that I wouldn't be surprised if they cast random people off the street.

The plot? Don't even bother trying to make sense of it. It's as if the writers didn't care about making anything even remotely believable. Sharks in the Mississippi River? Really? Everyone involved in this movie seems to have completely given up on logic or quality. It's an embarrassing attempt at a creature feature that fails on every level. Save yourself the headache and skip this disaster.

Not sure what others are seeing, but this move is simply pitiful. Even for the pseudo sci-fi genre, this one is a real stinker.

Preparing for an annual tradition, a group of locals at a fishing competition on the Mississippi River find that the whole affair has been invaded by a species of man-eating sharks and must find a way of getting the rest of the fishermen off the river and stop the sharks.

There was a lot to really like in this one. One of the film's positive points is the fact that there's plenty of solid lead-up throughout here to get the main point of the film going. With the exploits of the fishing competition carrying on with all the fine build-up here of the big attacks that provide all the lead-in to the infestation, from the first fisherman attack out on the marina and the ensuing ambush on the deputy trying to clean up the crime scene, the confrontation on the main section of the river where they produce the creature for the masses and the sequence where the creatures arrive to interrupt their plan to stop them by launching the out-of-water attack on the locals. With these scenes all coming to point out the rather fun concept of the creatures invading the fishing competition with the disbelieving locals, there's a lot to like with the idea of this one setting up a race to warn people against the attacking creatures while they work their way down in several shorter attack scenes. Given that these attacks are pretty much continuous for the most part as it shows them grabbing the fishermen off the river or jumping out of the water to grab people, that allows this one to really give this the kind of frantic pace that really appeals to the cheesy nature of the storyline. That even continues on into the rather fun finale where their plan to rid the sharks is initially foiled through sheer ineptitude rather than anything to do with the film itself even though that carries the action rather nicely and sets up some rather fun moments here. Alongside the big body count that produces some solid CGI gore, these here make for quite a lot to like in the face of the few minor flaws. The film's biggest issue is the rather problematic reasoning why the mayor continues the fishing competition as long as he does even in the face of the mounting evidence against it. There's obviously sharks in the water and have already eaten several by the time this one gets going, but the fact that he keeps it going for ludicrous reasoning is simply continuing a genre standby more than anything else and it just makes no sense why it would be featured. The continual ineptitude displayed to carry on the film makes no sense either and really does serve the film no reason for existing longer than it really should. The CGI is also a problem, but overall there's a lot to like here.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence and Language.