Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!

SHARKNADO 3: OH HELL NO! review by Mike Smith In this 3rd installment of the Syfy original trilogy, Sharknado, a monstrous tornado unleashes ravenous sharks from Washington D.C., all the way down to Orlando Florida. It's up to Fin Shepard and his friends and family to save the day....again. I highly enjoyed the over the top cheesiness of the Sharknado franchise, but this one jumped the shark. The movie is outrageously ridiculous but it's a fun ride. The movie knows what it is and doesn't take it's self serious. One thing I loved about this Sharknado is the list of celebrity cameos. David Hasselhoff, Frankie Muniz, Bo Derek, the awesome Michael Winslow, Ne-Yo, WWE legend Chris Jericho, Bill Engvall, Jerry Springer, and the list goes on! The c.g. is bad, the story is ridiculous, the acting is cheesy but the movie is fun. Yes all 3 movies blend together and the movie is forgettable. If you like B movies then you may enjoy this as much as I did, but this movie isn't for everyone. I really hope that there are no plans for a Sharknado 4 because I think this film really pushed the franchise as far as it can go. Cheers and remember life won't suck as long as there is a good B movie to watch.

As storm clouds gather, chainsaw-wielding Sharknado hunter Ian Ziering (as Finley "Fin" Shepard) runs to collect an award from the US President. A "Sharknado" hits town and destroys many landmarks in Washington, DC, including the White House. Escaping the "worst sharknado" since the first one, according to the NBC-TV news anchors, Mr. Ziering escapes. Ziering looks very muscular; he must work out. Meanwhile, his sometimes wife Tara Reid (as April Wexler) is in Universal's Orlando, Florida amusement park. She is pregnant and receives motherly advice from mother Bo Derek (as May Wexler). Insert the "still beautiful" notation regarding Ms. Derek, as needed. As the sharks thicken, Ziering re-encounters partner Cassie Scerbo (as Nova Clarke), who is hanging around with mechanic/bodyguard Frankie Muniz (as Lucas Stevens). Ziering and the "Sharknado" head for Florida and all hell breaks loose...

Syfy's "Sharknado" disaster TV Movie series is officially getting long in the tooth. The first two were much more fun.

"Sharknado" (2013) used humor to effectively poke fun at itself. "Sharknado 2" (2014) acknowledged that, connecting with viewers who watched the first one to have fun. All were directed by Anthony C. Ferrante, who may be hampered by formula demands from the studio. This one retreads old material (from various disaster films) and loses much of the "laughing at itself" appeal so prevalent in the second movie. New is an interactive chance for the viewer to "kill off" a leading character. This gimmick was used by DC Comics' "Batman" (#427, 1988). The "Sharknado" character in question doesn't do much, anyway. The music is up to par. David Hasselhoff is a promising, but unimaginative addition. A former "Malcolm in the Middle" child star, Mr. Muniz catches the "Sharknado" spirit perfectly; he is the best supporting actor. The movie's most grievous error is not serving Ann Coulter a richly deserved fate.

**** Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! (2015-07-22) Anthony C. Ferrante ~ Ian Ziering, Tara Reid, Cassie Scerbo, David Hasselhoff

Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! is a film made by people that evidently crave more and more attention for a project that, with each and every installment, gets less and less entertaining. Between the incessant promotion for the film on Twitter, resorting to plastering tweets and feedback from the common people during the film's commercial breaks, and the repeated emphasis on product placement and promotional tie-ins, Sharknado 3 is a sorry excuse for a film that, for now the third time, fails instantly for trying to pander to the dumb crowd and continue to harp on a concept that's been dead in the water since the first film.

The story of Sharknado is a rather interesting turn of fate. I recall reading an article months before its SyFy premiere was even a foreseeable option of various films at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival that were up for sale. I was particularly scoping out the ones that looked rather lackluster and, sure enough, Sharknado's poster was featured in the article, boasting its trademark image with the tagline "ENOUGH SAID!." I rolled my eyes and thought little of it until I began seeing a great deal of social media buzz for it upon the announcement that the film would have its North American premiere on the SyFy network. Sure enough, thanks to brazen advertising and an emphasis on the stupid, the film became a runaway hit and a pop culture footprint was made.

The original film was somewhat tolerable, for it was a fresh idea, but was irritating because you could tell from the very beginning that nobody involved in this film wanted to make a film that was the least bit serious or competent. They wanted to create a self-aware film that was well aware of its stupidity, drape it in purposefully poor special effects, and top it off with a plethora of cameos to become a film that was doing nothing trying to garner unworthy attention. The fact is, however, many of us paid it what it didn't deserve and now we have a second sequel and a third one in the works.

This particular film revolves around Fin and April (Ian Ziering and Tara Reid), this time, fighting off a sharknado that is pulverizing the east coast, particularly Washington D.C.. Fin, upon being awarded the Medal of Honor from the President of the United States (Mark Cuban), winds up trying to protect the president during the deadly twister. Finally, Fin heads to Universal Studios in Orlando, where a very pregnant April is vacationing, to try and fight off another sharknado that is destroying the city at the same time yet another sharknado is terrorizing Daytona during the Daytona 500. These storms eventually mold together to create a large, ostensibly unstoppable sharknado that can only be taken down by Fin, April, and Fin's old friend Nova (Cassie Scerbo), as they decide the only way to potentially stop it would be to go into space.

The chaos in Sharknado 3 starts early and rarely lets up, and at about ninety minutes, like its predecessors, the film becomes dreary and repetitive quickly. We get the momentary smirk when we see familiar faces like David Hasselhoff, Penn Jillette, Robert Klein, Jerry Springer, Anthony Weiner, Ann Coulter, Frankie Muniz, and even Michele Bachmann upon many others get their brief moment of fame, but these inclusions are just another ploy for the film to continue to garner unworthy attention. The monotony sets in faster than the skies can darken for an imminent sharknado, and the result is a redundant film that still is more or less giggling at itself and its concept while we should be sitting with a headache from all the eye-rolling we've done.

Sharknado has become less a film franchise and more of a marketing-rich opportunity for corporations, but mostly social media, and that fact is glaring when the film doesn't even end on a complete note and leaves a character's fate (and, to be honest, the future of an actor or actress's career) up to social media. If we had to get a Sharknado 3, could we at least have gotten one that wasn't so insistent on beating a one-note joke into the ground and one backed by a director and writer that wanted to create a decent film instead of a desperately unfunny and pathetic marketing trope?

Starring: Ian Ziering, Tara Reid, Cassie Scerbo, Frankie Muniz, Bo Derek, Mark Cuban, Ann Coulter, and David Hasselhoff. Directed by: Anthony C. Ferrante.

Sharknado 3 (2015)

** (out of 4)

Fin Shepard (Ian Ziering) is at the White House receiving a honor from the President of the United States (Mark Cuban) when another storm comes in carrying more sharks. After the attack Fin plans to make it to Florida to meet his pregnant wife (Tara Reid) and her mother (Bo Derek) but of course a bigger storm with even more sharks is brewing.

SHARKNADO pretty much came out of no where and did got moderate ratings but it set social media on fire and eventually became a cult film. Obviously a sequel was to follow and with its big ratings we now have this third film in the series. I think the biggest problem with SHARKNADO 3 is that they made it campy, silly and stupid on purpose and this really isn't how cult movies work. No, PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE and other "so bad they're good" movies work so well because their directors tried making something great and fell short. SHARKNADO was an attempt to make a serious film but it failed.

With the two sequels going for straight camp, the films aren't nearly as entertaining and I think the entire scenario is getting a little tiresome. After all, there's really nothing that happens here that we didn't see before. You can only see sharks falling from the sky so many times and the same could be said for a chainsaw ripping them up. For the most part the film remains slightly entertaining simply because of how dumb it is. Ziering and Reid offers decent performances and of course there's some wink cameos throughout. David Hasselhoff plays the father and we even have Cassie Scerbo and Frankie Muniz. Bo Derek is looking amazing at her age so it was nice seeing her here.

SHARKNADO 3 is a bad movie but it's one of those on purpose. Fans of the first two will want to check it out but lets hope they do something fresh with the next one.

Fin (Ian Ziering) and April (Tara Reid) are now remarried and are expecting another child. After a trip to Washington D.C. to receive a medal from current president Marcus Robbins (Marc Cuban) for his heroic actions during the events in the first 2 films, another sharknado strikes destroying the capital. Fearing that his family is in danger, he heads to Orlando. What he doesn't know is that a sharknado is following him while another is attacking Orlando. Now he and those he runs into on the way to Orlando must work together to try to stop the sharknados before they combine to form a sharkicane with the potential to destroy the entire East Coast.

I'll get right to it and say that this movie is terrible but that's not the point here. Everyone probably knew this coming in so I don't think that I'm surprising anyone. The acting is bad, the special effects are bad to the point that they are laughable, and the story doesn't make any sense. I am aware that this movie is called Sharknado 3 so I wasn't expecting anything scientifically accurate. Sharks in space people!!!! I saw some things in this that made me question myself but like I've said, this film is called Sharknado 3 so in order to enjoy it, you just have to suspend belief and accept what you are being given. My favorite thing about the film is all the random shark kills in all their "semi-gory" glory (this is a TV movie so they can only go so far). You'll also be surprised by some of the people who get killed (no spoilers). Common sense would normally dictate not watching this but if you give it a chance you'll be pleasantly surprised and perhaps entertained as I was. I've seen the first 2 films and I enjoyed them a lot and I think that this one is the best one so far.