Thursday 9 March 2017

Sharknado 2 (3½ Stars)


The sublimely ridiculous "Sharknado", made in 2013, demanded a sequel, and we only had to wait a year. The sequel is a prime example of a film that doesn't take itself seriously. It makes no attempt to be realistic, it's just intended to shock the audience with its lack of propriety and logic.

As such, my rating doesn't really matter. I could have given it one star as an illogical piece of trash or five stars as a brilliant sequence of in jokes. It all depends on what the viewer wants from it. Some people will love it, others will hate it. It's best discussed after drinking five pints of beer.

The premise is the same as the first film. Extreme weather conditions cause sharks to be lifted into the air by a storm. As tornadoes wreak chaos the sharks are dropped from the sky and bite anyone in sight. The streets are flooded, meaning that the sharks can swim through the city, evidently ravenously hungry after spending days floating in the air.

"Sharknado 2" is a more typical disaster movie than its predecessor. The first film took place in California, but as all film fans know, whenever there's a major catastrophe, such as meteorites, an alien invasion or just a big monkey, it always happens in Manhattan. The big buildings and its landmarks have made it the world's best known city, and film directors love to destroy it on screen to shock the audience.

Fin Shephard and April Wexler, the heroes from the first film, travel to New York City to promote their new book, "How to survive a sharknado and other unnatural disasters". The plane travels through a shark storm, leading April to speculate that the sharks have a collective consciousness and are pursuing her as their enemy. Once on the ground they realise that twin tornadoes are converging on the Empire State Building, throwing sharks all around them. We see sharks swimming through the flooded Subway and chasing people up the stairwells in skyscrapers.


A subplot in "Sharknado 2" is Fin's attempt to win back his divorced wife April. This is made more difficult by the return of a woman he went to school with, Skye, played by Vivica A. Fox, who admits that she's always had a crush on him. She's not just beautiful, she's a tough bitch who stands by Fin's side in his battle against the sharks.

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P.S. I noticed, to my great surprise, that Netflix streamed this film at full HD resolution, 1920 x 1080 pixels, although I'm using Google Chrome. This is fantastic news. Until now the maximum resolution has been 1280 x 720.

P.P.S. Wow! I've managed to review this film without including any pictures of sharks.

P.P.P.S. Before I get any complaints from my female readers, when I call a woman a "tough bitch" it's meant as a compliment. In fact, it's one of the biggest compliments I can give a woman.

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