Mega Shark vs. Mechatronic Shark

'Mega Shark vs. Mecha Shark' is a monster/disaster film directed by Emile Edwin Smith and released straight to DVD in early 2014. The film is the third instalment of the 'Mega Shark Trilogy', successor to 'Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus' and 'Mega Shark vs. Crocosaurus'. The film stars Christopher Judge and Elisabeth Röhm, with Debbie Gibson reprising her role as Emma MacNeil from the first film.

Following a similar plot to its predecessors, our protagonists are confronted by a bloodthirsty megalodon intent on causing havoc off the coast of Australia, and are left side-lined as their own creation designed to destroy the shark – a robot called Mecha Shark – begins an autonomous unforeseen attack following a communication failure. Following an encouraging opening, the film quickly delves into the series' formula of unoriginal and repetitive set pieces attempting to subdue the creatures, whilst an implausible romance blooms. The narrative of films like 'Mega Shark vs. Mecha Shark' demands the lowest of expectations from audiences, and whilst the film surpasses these nethermost expectations, it sadly offers little to even be classed in the 'so bad it's good' category.

Performances across the board are satisfactory, but there is a gargantuan non-existence of wit and tongue-in-cheek moments which begs the question why a film entitled 'Mega Shark vs. Mecha Shark' is taking itself so earnestly. Undeniably the film offers brief moments of gratification – a shark destroying the head of an Egyptian sphinx can only be a good thing. On majority though the film feels stale and, considering the film's title, it would have been beneficial to give much more screen time to the clash between the Mega Shark and the Mecha Shark.

'Mega Shark vs. Mecha Shark' is a formulaic and uninspired film which begs for, believe it not, more destruction and mayhem. Not totally without merit, the film isn't the lowest of the low of its genre, but is certainly does not amaze or thrill.

A new mega shark threatens to destroy humanity. The government creates an exact robotic copy of the shark, either equal to or greater than the original. Now they must fight to the death while people and whole cities get in the way.

The best part of this film was a brief scene that was an homage to the first film's best scene. This is, of course, a showdown between an airplane and a shark... a complete load of nonsense, but highly entertaining.

Beyond that, nothing too exciting. I feel like there was more than the average effort put into the special effects, but most of this is nothing new and even by Asylum's cheap standards it is not as much fun as it could be. I get the impression Debbie Gibson shot all her scenes in one day, because she rarely interacts with anyone and is always standing in the same spot... this is even less than "phoning it in".

You know your career has tanked when you're the lead actor and actress in a mega shark movie. I don't know what Worf was thinking, but he's even worse here than in New Generation. The Elizabeth Rohm character is the tired old bad @as super woman character who tries to save the day by jumping into the mecha's mouth. Have these people EVER taken acting lessons? The part that killed me was her driving at high speed, while talking to Worf, with her eyes not even on the road. Good example for young drivers there lady! Maybe the fans of these travesties of film making watch them dueling bong parties or something. Please... just stop.

Previously, "Mega Shark vs Crocosaurus" (2010) ended with the prehistoric creatures fighting their way into a murky abyss. They were both declared dead. How we get a third "Mega Shark" movie begins in Alexandria, Egypt. There, an iceberg cracks and releases "another" of the prehistoric shark creatures. As you might imagine, this one is also very destructive. It begins by decapitating the Sphinx of Giza. This is great loss for civilization – and an incredible feat for a water-based shark. Fortunately, the Americans have built a shark-looking submarine to fight off prehistoric sharks. This "Mecha Shark" is a mechanical version of the destructive monster. Helmed by navigating co-stars Christopher Judge (as Jack Turner) and Elisabeth Rohm (as Rosie Gray), "Mecha Shark" sets out to do battle with the new "Mega Shark"...

Compared to the first two "Mega Shark" movies, this is "Citizen Kane"...

Most obviously, the direction and performances are improved. This time, director Emile Edwin Smith and his "Asylum" crew make the most of their limited resources. The special effects are far from state of the art – but, there is a sense of place. The best "effect" is the mechanical shark's unseen computer voice, NERO, who helps navigate the submarine. NERO recalls HAL from "2001: A Space Odyssey" (1968) – but without the smarmy, underlying sinister tone. The co-starring couple, Mr. Judge and Ms. Rohm, strike the right acting chords and have some chemistry. We hope Rohm and NERO will keep Judge from smoking. From the first film, we see Deborah "Debbie" Gibson in a superfluous cameo. Cheers to Paul Anderson as NERO's voice. Jeers to the series' relentless degrading of the science-fiction/horror film genre.

**** Mega Shark vs Mecha Shark (1/24/14) Emile Edwin Smith ~ Christopher Judge, Elisabeth Rohm, Matt Lagan, Paul Anderson

The Mega Shark movies are the kind that aren't to be expected much from, but even with that in mind I personally didn't consider Giant Octopus or Crocosaurus particularly good, some fun moments, mostly for the so-bad-it's-good value there was, but mostly they were too amateurish and ridiculous to take it even for what they were. Mecha Shark is the best of the three but from personal opinion it was only passable. It is the best-looking of the trilogy definitely, the scenery is very nice as well as the underwater shots and the editing is reasonable. The score is catchy and in a way drives the movie rather than bog it down. The special effects are better than average if not great, a huge improvement on its predecessors anyhow(and I'd go as far to say that much of the underwater stuff was quite good), sure there are a few ropey ones here and there. Much of the acting is not bad at all despite not having very strong material to work with, the playing-it-straight approach is adopted and it suits the movie just fine, doing it without going through the motions. Elisabeth Rohm and Christopher Judge are commanding leads. And the last act is a lot of fun, the pace is snappier and while inevitably predictable some of it is amusing and at times endearingly silly. There is an exception regarding the acting and that is Deborah Gibson in her brief appearance, if she had a bigger role she would have come across as less phoned in. The characters are not annoying as such but are not very interesting, and that is including the shark who is more goofy than menacing. The script mistakes insultingly cheesy for snappy, the jargon is really stilted too and a lot of scenes have dialogue and voice-overs that over-explain things. If there was one word to describe the script, bloated would be it. The concept was ridiculous in the first place, but two thirds of Mecha Shark is rather indifferent until the last act really picks up. That it's predictable is to be expected, but the suffocating pacing, lack of tension or suspense and scenes that are very derivative, with a few parts reminiscent of those from its predecessors(like the mid-air leap jet chomp from Giant Octopus) but also reading too much of inferior copies. They were mildly fun previously while making you feel stupid at the same time, here they were just tired. All in all, at best it's reasonably fun and it is easily the best of the Mega Shark trilogy. But while it is a significant improvement technically and acting-wise, there could have been room to have more fun and the improvement does not translate into the writing department, with a sense of not just trying to do too much but also feeling very bland and indifferent. 4/10 Bethany Cox