August 16, 2016, at 4:38 a.m.
Uh…two things. First, spoilers ahead. Second, I actually kind of liked this movie. Insert comical “gulp” onomonepia here.
Sharknado 4: The 4th Awakens Review
Now, let me back step one second before I get into the excess that was Sharknado 4. The previous evenings’ entertainment was the Civil War epic drama, Free State of Jones. Interracial marriage, extreme heady political theory, 40 acres and mule, and plenty of Civil War blood and guts rules in this three-hour film. So, although I may dive for the poop deck of cinema from time to time, I do have something reasonable to balance this out.
Never the less… I actually liked Sharknado 4. It was fun, nonstop, over-the-top fun. I think this is something is lacking in today’s movies. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good Chris Nolan ultra-dark film too. However, at all times Sharknado 4 is ultra-aware that it is movie about killer, omnipotent twisters with hammerheads.
There are too many cameos to mention them all, but they are so frequent you lose track. One liners from famous movies including Star Wars (The Force Awakens is a play on the title), Terminator, and even the Wizard of Oz gets an Easter egg or two.
Drawing from its own cannon, Sharknado 4 also pulls out jokes from previous installments. There is just so much… it’s so far beyond ridiculous it feels right. At no point in the entire 90-minute spoof fest does the movie ever attempt to apologize or interject a shard of sanity. Gary Busey; need I say more.
Not to mention all the great nods to the current disaster films that have permeated the summer blockbusters lately. The directors spared no lengths to destroy every famous landmark they could cram in to this film. The largest ball of twine, the Las Vegas Welcome sign, the St. Louis Arch, and the list goes on and on and on and on… you get the point.
But wait, there’s more!
For those of you not familiar with the plot of Sharknado, it follows hero Finn Shepard (Ian Zering) and his family as they are continually stalked by killer tornados filled to the toothy brim with crazed man eating sharks. When the original Sharknado was released on SyFy television in 2013 it underperformed initially.
That was until it went hella-viral on Twitter. The next two days of screening on Syfy shattered records and it became the most financially successful film in the channel’s history. With an estimated budget of $2 million and grossing over $19 million, a horde of sequels was inevitable.
Always trying to up the ante, and failing pretty good in Sharknado 2 and 3, I was hesitant to give part four a try. How many times can you outdo yourself in B-movie disaster parody? I admit, I fast forwarded through most of the other sequels. But they (Asylum) seems to have gotten it right in part four.
Was it the flying battle mech suit, or the Baywatch throwback scene with David Hasselhoff and Gina Lee Nolan? Was it the morphing of the sharknadoes into supernatural elements, like the Icenado, oilnado, or the final form, the NukeNado, that did it? Or was it all the boobs? Yes, no nudity… But there were PLENTY of boobs in this movie.
As Rotten Tomatoes put it, “So bad it’s good.” Yes, but this phrase is carelessly thrown around and certainly misses the mark many times. Sharknado is the exception. Yes, this movie is fucking awful… Awfully fun for an 84 minute ride into absurdity of killer tornadoes filled with sharks.
Enjoy, and in the not so famous words of Gary Charonne and Nuno Bettencourt, “If you don’t like what you see here…. Get the FUNK out.”