Sharknado 2: The Second One

It was perhaps inevitable with the success (financial, not critical) of the first "Sharknado" movie that we would get a sequel. While other production units might have made a quickie effort, in some aspects this sequel comes across better than the first movie - slightly. The shooting in various places in New York City do give the movie a better looking backdrop. And there are some amusing moments, particularly with the many cameos by various celebrities. However, in some aspects the movie is worse. This is most evident with the special effects. I know you can't expect multi million dollar special effects, but for some reason the special effects here look worse than those in the first movie. Also, the characters are not written to be particularly interesting, which is probably why most of the cast give lazy performances. (Though Vivica A. Fox and Judd Hirsch do put some life in their roles.) In the end, this movie is pretty much at the level of the first movie. If you liked the first movie, you'll probably like this sequel. If you didn't like the first movie, you know what you're in for.

Things have calmed down since the first "Sharknado" (2013), but not for long… Romantically inclined Ian Ziering (as Fin Shepard) and raspy-voiced Tara Reid (as April Wexler) are on a flight to JFK International Airport in New York City. She is scheduled to give a speech, after authoring the successful book "How to Survive a Sharknado". He just wants a slice of New York pizza. Can't blame him. Accompanied by a theme song swiped from The Ramones, the opening credits get us off to a rollicking start. After an attack by sharks, whipped up by a sudden tornado, Mr. Ziering makes an emergency landing. Despite the fact that several passengers have their heads eaten by flying sharks, and others are whisked out of the plane, many people are reluctant to believe Ziering's dire warning about another "Sharknado". Mostly oblivious to the foreboding weather, citizens go about their everyday business...

Then, the shark hits the fan...

For years, the Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi) Channel has been slaughtering science-fiction film aficionados with the some of the worst "original movies" ever to see the green light of day. The cheap, lurid and derivative stories would sound promising during promotion – then proves themselves a cinematic disaster when viewing. The best of the quick, low-budget productions had a sense of humor. Spoofing the genre, "Sharknado" and "Ghost Shark" (2013) were surprisingly fun. Mindful of this, director Anthony C. Ferrante, writer Thunder Levin (his real name) and the "Asylum" crew respond by treating this sequel as a comedy. They seem to be saying, "We know you're laughing at us, we're laughing with you." The shark attacks are hilarious – and they wouldn't be funny with fantastic special effects and great acting. There will certainly be more "Sharknado" movies, but topping this one will be a challenge...

****** Sharknado 2: The Second One (7/30/14) Anthony C. Ferrante ~ Ian Ziering, Tara Reid, Mark McGrath, Vivica A. Fox

Having survived the Sharknado in Los Angeles, pro-surfer Fin Shepard (Ian Ziering) and his ex-wife April (Tara Reid) fly to New York City to promote their book, How To Survive A Sharknado, where they find the same thing happening all over again, only on an even bigger scale.

I usually prefer my crap movies to be bad by accident, although I do admit to enjoying intentionally crap disaster flick Sharknado just a bit more than I probably should have done. With this sequel, director Anthony C. Ferrante attempts to outdo his first film in terms of sheer silliness, and largely succeeds with some truly ridiculous set-pieces, but with essentially the same plot (full of gaping plot holes, not that that matters one bit), and equally dire CGI effects, I found that the novelty soon wore off, leaving me rather frustrated by the fact that there are now at least two more sequels, and a bloody good chance that I'll make myself watch them.

A freak weather system turns its deadly fury on New York City, unleashing a Sharknado on the population and its most cherished, iconic sites - and only Fin (Ian Ziering) and April (Tara Reid) can save the Big Apple.

Whether or not this tops the first film is hard to say, but they pulled all the stops when it came to references for "Taxi", "Airplane", "Jaws" and maybe even "Evil Dead". And the cameos are never-ending (good luck catching them all).

John W. Bowen said it very well when he argued that this film actually surpasses the first. He wrote, "The original wisely refused to take itself seriously but never fully embraced its own absurdity, whereas Sharknado 2 happily wallows in it and invites us to dive right in."

If you have friends and a case of beer (or whatever your preferred beverage is), this is a lot of fun. But if you expect it to be critically better in any way, you are delusional. It is just as cheesy as the first.

"Sharknado 2: The Second One" is a 2014 disaster movie and a sequel to the 2013 film "Sharknado". The film is directed by Anthony C. Ferrante, and stars Tara Reid, Ian Ziering, Vivica A. Fox, Kari Wuhrer, Kelly Osbourne, Benjy Bronk, Judah Friedlander, Andy Dick, and TNA superstar Kurt Angle. A freak weather system turns its deadly fury on New York City, unleashing a Sharknado on the population and its most cherished, iconic sites - and only Fin and April can save the Big Apple.

In a sort of twisted sense, I kind of love this movie. Not that I think it's good from a filmmaking level, but on the amount of entertainment value "Sharknado 2" provided me. For any film I saw this year, it gave me some of the year's biggest laughs. Said laughs did come because the film basically murders logic in every sense of the world. Jumping the shark doesn't cover it. Compared to the first film, it both bigger and ridiculous, and it's so much fun. It feels like everyone behind the project knew what they are doing, and just have a ball with it, and so did I.

As I stated earlier, the film definitely isn't a master-class of filmmaking. The acting is the quality of what I expect from a film like this(Which is either average or really bad.). Also there were a few characters in the film I failed to see their purpose being in the story. Yet strangely though it strangely fit's the film absurdity, plus characters that actually play a part of the story, are pretty fun to watch. The visuals are pretty horrid form a technical perspective, though again, it's fits the movie better than if they were actually good. To avoid being repetitive, "Sharknado " does fail in what a film should do, but it gives it a charm that I can only find in this, and the original.