The first Sharknado hit the airwaves in 2013, and caused an
immediate internet reaction. It
literally was sharks, in a tornado, that hit Los Angeles. It did have a bit of an environmental message
in that the reason the sharks were all in one area was climate change –
likewise the reason the storm was so bad was also climate change.
Moving on to the other Sharknado movies, there was less
reason and plot as the sharknadoes started appearing everywhere for almost no
reason. In Sharknado 2, they hit New York. In Sharknado 3, they hit Orlando, introduced both
Fin and April’s parents, moved up the eastern seaboard, and took our heroes to
space where April gave birth to their baby in the belly of a space shark - still one of the best things ever.
In Sharknado 4, they went global, and April
was turned into a cyborg by her father Gary Busey, and then in Sharknado 5,
they hinted that the sharknadoes had mystical teleportation powers, which of
course leads to Sharknado 6 – in which there is now time travel. Because, why not?
This movie finds our hero Fin Sheppard, after having been
rescued by a future version of his son Gil, shot back in time to prehistoric
days with only his android wife April’s severed head in a bag (don’t worry
about it) and a message from his son to stop the first Sharknado, thereby
stopping all the sharknadoes – the science is sound. Fin realizes that his buddy Bryan (last seen getting eaten in Sharknado 2), his shark-hating bartender-turned shark warrior
Nova, and the real version of April are all there waiting for him. Apparently Gil was snatching people up
through time just before they perished, and depositing them there to wait for
Fin. Together, they run from some
dinosaurs, destroy a sharknado filled with Megalodons, then time travel on the
back of a pterodactyl. Look – don’t
bother asking any of the why questions. It’s just not worth it.
They shoot forward to medieval England, where they encounter
Merlin and Morgana. They destroy a sharknado
there, then jump forward to the American Revolution, where George Washington is
having a bit of a debate with Benjamin Franklin and Hamilton. They stop a sharknado there, and then jump
forward to the old west, where they encounter Billy the Kid, as well as Fin’s
buddy Skye, who also died in Sharknado 2.
Then, they head to a beach party in the 60s in California,
then the 90s in San Francisco –then back to just before the first sharknado hit
– then to the distant future, and by distant, I mean 20013, where the planet is
now just clones of April and robot sharks (just go with it). Finally, after completely breaking time, and
blowing up the last Sharknado – everything is set right, and the movie ends
where the series began, with Fin in his bar, back with April, both their
parents, and their original kids (which is impressive since they had gone
through some casting changes), and their friends including bar patron George,
played by John Heard (they use old footage, since he died two years ago). Fin decides it’s time to move to the Midwest
and take up farming. A happy ending for all!
Look, the movie is complete and utter nonsense, but it
embraces it fully and does a great job of throwing all reason out the window,
and having Fin literally hit by a kitchen sink. It’s very on the nose, there is
no subtlety. There are catchphrases and
tongue-in-cheek ridiculousness, as well as celebrity cameos galore! What’s not to love? This one is again directed
by Anthony C. Ferrante, and yes, it does have its own theme song over hilariously
animated credits. The cast is
wonderfully strange, and happily committed to the absurdity.
- Once again, I really have to commend Ian Ziering. His ability to play Fin as completely genuine, no matter how insane the surroundings, is really what sells this franchise. Ziering has had a blast doing this, and I will miss him. Also, credit to the writer who gave him the line “There’s no time to stop and think about the madness of it all!” If that doesn’t sum up these movies, nothing does.
- Say what you will about Tara Reid, but she has continued to improve as these movies go on. Now, considering her performance in the first one. That's not saying much. She was a bit zombie-like. Here, she seems to be enjoying herself plenty, playing regular April, head-in-a-bag April, and then the army of April clones.
- Cassandra Scerbo is back as Nova, who in this one just wants to change history to save her grandfather, which of course would change her entire being, since him getting eaten by sharks is what made her the shark-warrior she is.
- Judah Friedlander is back as Bryan, who in one timeline is played by MadTV alum Debra Wilson, for no reason whatsoever.
- Vivica A. Fox is back as Skye, and for some reason, she looks great in the old west gear. Maybe she needs a western?
- From there on, you get more into the cameo range, and man, there were a lot of them. My favorite was Neil deGrasse Tyson as Merlin, which was perfection. I also enjoyed Darrell Hammond playing George Washington as Bill Clinton, and then Ben Stein playing Hamilton. Absolute genius.
SyFy will be replaying the movie all week. If you have some
time to kill, turn off your brain, grab some popcorn, and enjoy the silly. It’s well worth it.
Also - copying my PSA from the Meg review: I do love sharks - Sharks are key to ocean ecosystems and most are very endangered, due to climate change and poaching. They are beautiful, amazing, fantastic creatures, and if you want to learn more, or help in conservation efforts, go to Sharks.org to visit the Shark Research Institute to see how you can help.
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