Sharknado 4: Que la 4º te acompañe

There are a couple of stabs directed at Star Wars (and one on Star Trek). But riffing on something popular does not make your movie really good. On the other hand, I don't think anyone will ever accuse the Sharknado movies of being intellectual or really something with gravitas (no pun intended of course).

There are quite a few cameos and star appearances (one from a fellow actor from another beast Scy-Fi movie with different animals as beasts. Btw. that other movie worked way better for many different reasons. So while CGI still is not anywhere near current tech, I don't reckon this will break the movie for you, if otherwise you liked it. It is really low and has me still wondering how there are still more of these to come ... Part 5 is confirmed for 2017

We witnessed the catastrophic third "Sharknado" attack last summer but, in TV-movie time, "It has been five years since the last Sharknado. Tech company Astro-X has used their revolutionary energy system to stabilize the atmosphere and prevent the formation of all tornadoes, using cheap, clean reactors dubbed Astro-Pods. The world has been peaceful and prosperous thanks to Astro-X's visionary founder Aston Reynolds, but now the future is about to be threatened once again…" This helpful prologue credit roll, looking like "Star Wars" (and sounding like "Superman") sets up the story. To celebrate five years of bliss, billionaire businessman Tommy Davidson (as Mr. Reynolds) opens a "Shark World" theme park in Las Vegas...

The inevitable happens. The Astro-X system fails and Vegas is hit with a "Sharknado". Yes, Virginia, there are sharks in Las Vegas. Sharks can attack anywhere, we are told. The monster storms do not have to be water-based. For example, the Vegas attack is sand-based. This looks like a job for Superman… or, rather, super-hero Ian Ziering (as Finlay "Fin" Allan Shepard), strange visitor from "Beverly Hills 90210" who came to Asylum with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men. To save the world, we must summon Mr. Ziering from his small Kansas town and give him a chain-saw...

In another story-line, we find Ziering's deceased blonde squeeze Tara Reid (as April Wexler) really isn't dead. She's been life-preserved by crazed father Gary Busey (as Wilford). He's made Ms. Reid a "Bionic Woman". In a notable subplot, Ziering's older son Cody Linley (as Matt Shepard) gets married. It will be interesting to see if the bride Imani A. Hakim (as Gabrielle) appears in "Sharknado 5" (2017). Hmmm. She may only be shark bait. Other beautiful young women include Claudia Shepard and Masiela Lusha. You also get the handsome, legendary and talented "Hoff" (as Colonel David Hasselhoff)...

There are a lot of cameos by the once famous, somewhat famous and not so famous. Sadly, we don't see many of them actually eaten by sharks. Part of the "Sharknado" fun is seeing someone like Matt Lauer or Ann Coulter disappear into a shark's mouth. Among the latter, it looks like an abundance of the cast and crew's friends, relatives and total strangers were accommodated with screen time. If they continue, we will all be in a "Sharknado" movie. The soundtrack, by Quint, is always a plus. Their theme song sounds like "Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue" by the Ramones. Series writer Thunder Levin gives them a fun script to start. Reynolds is good, but the "Sharknado" series is getting long in the tooth. If you've never seen a "Sharknado" before, this one might be fun.

**** Sharknado 4: The 4th Awakens (7/31/2016) Anthony C. Ferrante ~ Ian Ziering, Tara Reid, David Hasselhoff, Tommy Davidson

I've often considered Sharknado to be the worst movie franchise of all time and found myself delaying watching the 4th part and this right here is why.

I like Scyfy originals, I think they have a certain charm about them but the Sharknado movies are devoid of that and in it's place will it will stupidity, movie references and cameo appearances of z list celebrities on the downswing of their careers.

Once again 90 minutes of moronic scenes, ridiculous "action and humour that will appeal to nobody over the age of 9.

So far out of a potential 40pts they've acquired 4 from me and I just don't see the fifth and/or any subsequent sequels doing much better.

Just so very very dire.

The Good:

Kudos that the franchise has lasted this long

The "Hoff" is actually on form

The Bad:

It's a sharknado film

Pretty much everything

Tara Reid

Things I learnt from this movie:

If you are a company specialising in preventing sharknados it makes perfect sense to have a giant tank full of sharks outside

Male strippers can deflect sharks using nothing but their penis

Corey Taylor may be a flawless musician but his movie role choices suck

The pirate ship in Las Vegas is a real fully functional ship complete with real swords and working cannons

A 100ft by 50ft tank can hold hundreds if not thousands of fully grown sharks

The water from said tank is sufficient to flood a city and keep afloat an entire ship

Seth Rollins plans on super kicking a storm

It's a cownado!

'SHARKNADO 4: THE 4TH AWAKENS': Two and a Half Stars (Out of Five)

The fourth installment in the popular Syfy network television film series (which began in 2013). This chapter was once again directed by Anthony C. Ferrante, and Thunder Levin once again wrote the screenplay (the duo performed the same duties on all three previous movies). Actors Ian Ziering and Tara Reid also reprise their starring roles (for the fourth time as well). Other returning cast members (from at least the previous installment) include David Hasselhoff and Ryan Newman; they're joined by newcomers Tommy Davidson, Gary Busey, Masiela Lusha, Cody Linley and Cheryl Tiegs. Cameos (this time around) include Stacey Dash, David Faustino, Dr. Drew Pinsky, Gilbert Gottfried, Steve Guttenberg, Lloyd Kaufman, Vince Neil, Wayne Newton and Al Roker (for his third time). The film has it's moments, but it's not as funny (or as cleverly bad) as the previous three installments.

The story takes place five years after the events of the third film; and there hasn't been a 'sharknado' in all of that time. Thanks to technical genius Aston Reynolds (Davidson), and his company's atmosphere stabilizers. Fin (Ziering) has been enjoying the peace and quiet, and he's now traveling to Las Vegas; for a family reunion. Unfortunately, he soon learns, that his break, from the sharknado action, is now over.

All of the 'SHARKNADO' films are laughably bad, which makes them also somewhat enjoyable. In my opinion the series reached it's peak in 2014 (with the first sequel). Now I think it's definitely running out of steam. This chapter is still mildly enjoyable, and it's also not really any worse than the other three chapters (how could it be). Fans of the series will probably still enjoy it.

Watch our movie review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: https://youtu.be/AZDkLpTvRzc

As most of the readers of my reviews might have noticed, I am a guy with very mixed taste. Not only I watch theater releases and must-see movies but I also watch obscure movies that nobody would ever seek, movies that were popular for a while and then fell into oblivion, and very awful movies. I have a confession: despite my huge knowledge in bad movies I have never seen the previous SHARKNADO entries but watched this one in particular for completing the movies of a particular cast member. Now I can go to the review.

When the movie begins we are told that the Sharknado phenomenon has been stopped by an invention of the Astro-X that also managed to resurrect Colonel Shepard (David Hasseloff). His son Fin travels to Las Vegas for meeting the nephew when suddenly a tornado destroys a shark aquarium and causes a new sharknado that kills various Vegas people, and they gradually become bouldernados (made of boulders), oilnado (made of oil), a firenado (made of flames), a cownado (made of cows), a lightningado (made of lightings) and a nuclearnado after hitting a nuclear plant. April Wexler (Tara Reid), who was transformed in some sort of cyborg thanks to her dad (Gary Busey), goes with Colonel Shepard and the gang for stopping all the nados and freeing the people swallowed by sharks after they are all swallowed by a whale.

The plot, as crazy as might sound, was funny in some points and it didn't made me cringe for the fact that I was watching it. The acting was at times bland (especially by Reid and Steve Guttenberg) and at times ok (by Carrot Top, David Hasseloff, Gary Busey and the late Gilbert Gottfried). The CGI was decent, and the sharks especially were very adorable to look at (except when at the end they are cut open). What was annoying was the dialogue because at times it didn't even make sense, neither some of the actions of the characters.

So it's bad but not that much because it can actually entertain. Perfect watching for killing one and a half hour or for having some laugh at the ineptness of it.

FYI... 4 of the cast members of this (Tara Reid, Bo Derek, Carrot Top and Gary Busey) put me likes on my comments on their posts on Instagram since November 2022. Perhaps they read my review and thought I liked it just for them, who knows?