Sharknado 4 : Le 4ᵉ réveil

Sharknado 4 (2016)

** (out of 4)

The fourth film in the series has a company creating a special shield that has prevented any future sharnados. Unfortuantly when Fin Shepard (Ian Ziering) is in Las Vegas the thing breaks down and soon more killer sharks are flying around.

You know, I remember when the original movie aired on SyFy and there wasn't a bit of hype. The film turned out to be a pretty good movie as far as creature features go but sadly it became a social media hit and the producers used this to promote the next three films. SHARKNADO 4 is pretty much the same thing we saw in the previous movies but this one here goes even further in the social media game by having countless cameos from famous and semi-famous people.

For the most part the film is mildly entertaining and especially the first twenty-minutes in Las Vegas. I thought the film managed to have some fast and fun action and there were some creative shark kills as well. The non-stop parading of cameos was a bit annoying but that was to be expected. The biggest problem with the remaining portion of the film is that there just wasn't anything fresh or original. Ziering and Tara Reid did a decent enough of a job but folks like David Hasselhoff and especially Gary Busey were just wasted.

'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.

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What started out as a super cheesy movie with the first installment, just gradually went faster and faster downhill with each new movie added to the franchise. And this 4th movie sure is the icing on the cake so far - I bet it will be even worse if they continue to make these movies.

"Sharknado 4: The 4th Awakens" is now at the point where it stopped being fun, and it was actually somewhat of an embarrassment to witness. The previous movies had fun moments, especially because they were so over the top and so amazingly fake. But by now, it is just a re-run of previously used material, and it is wearing dangerously thin.

The story is essentially the same as in the previous three movies, so nothing much for innovation here. Don't get your hopes up.

The acting in "Sharknado 4: The 4th Awakens" was as to be expected, and if you have seen any of the previous three movies, then you know exactly what you are in for, especially since none of the people on the cast list has been particularly improving their acting talents.

The effects, well, let's just say that they were also as to be expected. Cheesy and often hilariously fake special effects. But then again, isn't that what the "Sharknado" movies are sort of pseudo famous for? But "Sharknado 4: The 4th Awakens" introduces a whole array of new terrible things, such a lightningnado, stonenado, firenado, and so on. Again, taking things too far out, to the point of embarrassment.

One thing that was working in favor for the movie was the subtle and blunt references to other movies. And if you are a movie fanatic, then you will find a lot of references throughout the course of "Sharknado 4: The 4th Awakens".

However, "Sharknado 4: The 4th Awakens" was the least entertaining of the current four movies in the franchise. And as such, then my verdict is that this movie scores a meager three out of ten stars.

The first two 'Sharknado' movies were not great and had a lot wrong with them, but they were guilty pleasure fun as long as not taken seriously. 'Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!' however was a let-down, it lacks the fun and charm of the first two as a result of being too self-aware and trying far too hard, really wanted to not take this seriously and view it as a guilty pleasure but it was just too amateurish and tired.

With 'Sharknado 4: The 4th Awakens', the amateurish-ness and fatigue are multiplied and highly indicative of that despite starting off in guilty pleasure fashion the novelty has worn off and well thin now. The previous film may have lacked charm, fun and energy, though the fun came in occasionally, but 'Sharknado 4: The 4th Awakens' is completely devoid of all three and has so many other things wrong too. Even when one tries to take it for what it's trying to be, which it manages to fail at.

Ian Ziering is likable and charismatic in the lead role, he plays it straight but still looks like he's having fun with the role. There is some nice scenery, an energetic and eerie music score and some of the references are fun and inspired, when they aren't being over obvious or dumb.

Very little else works. Tara Reid continues to be unspeakably awful, her facial expressions look so expressionless and very forced in the few times she tries, her line delivery is mechanical and she constantly looks ill at ease. The dizzying amount of cameos and the quality of them are nowhere near as entertaining as in the first two outings, not just the too deadpan approach but also that they're poorly written and feel too random and brief. Some also downright irritating, especially Jedward whose "annoying factor" from their joke act 'X Factor' days has not changed a bit. David Hasselhoff didn't seem comfortable and neither did Gary Busey.

Even for low-budget, 'Sharknado 4' is very shoddy stuff. The scenery is pretty good but the film is shot in a very rushed-looking and drab way, editing is sloppy as well as choppy and the shark special effects are typical dreadfully artificial Asylum/SyFy fare. Regarding the shark attacks and death scenes (none being good enough to even reach "reasonably fun" level), that the sharks have little personality let alone menace hurts them and even more so the unintentional silliness comes at the expense of thrills and suspense, which are nowhere in sight, and gets tiresome. The film is directed flatly, the energy and enthusiasm in the pacing is missing and there are too many cardboard characters that are difficult to give a toss about. The first two films had some great funny lines, but the script here contains nothing remotely amusing or memorable and instead feels stale and tiresomely cheesy.

'Sharknado 4' is even more of a pale retread than the third film, with very little maintaining interest and instead having numerous scenes leading nowhere It's further not helped by trying too hard being dopey fun and in the process taking itself too seriously at times that any life is sucked out, then including new ideas, like the different kinds of "nados", intended to be fresh but are just cheap and ridiculous.

Overall, a less than extravagant awakening and feels tired. 3/10 Bethany Cox

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