David Michael Latt

You couldn't even say this movie is so bad that it's good, because it's seriously terrible, but it's also hilariously entertaining. Sometimes it means to be idiotic, but more often we are laughing because the effects are so appalling, the script is nonsensical and the cast look like they got lost and wandered onto the set by accident. Fans of awful movies won't want to miss it.

The premise is simply ridiculous: Los Angeles is in the grip of a shark infestation, as swimmers in about four inches of water are being gobbled up by Great Whites. Just then, a freak hurricane arrives from Mexico carrying water-spouts packed with sharks that are dropped into the city streets. Our hero is Fin (Ziering), a surfer dude who's worried about his estranged wife April (Reid) and their two grown children (Peeples and Hittinger). So he grabs his best buddy Baz (Simmons), the tough-girl barmaid Nova (Scerbo) and a local drunk (Heard) and they charge to the rescue. After a series of outrageous adventures, they come up with a crazy plan to save the city.

Mashing together every disaster movie cliche imaginable, along with nonstop amusing Jaws references and L.A. in-jokes, the film isn't nearly as stupid as it looks. And it looks really stupid. There isn't a single sequence that makes a bit of logical sense due to the dirt-cheap production values and clunky digital effects. Every now and then, the filmmakers edit in a documentary shot of actual sharks swimming just to remind us what they look like, as opposed to the clumsy rubber and digital variety that fills the screen.

Continue reading: Sharknado Review