Sharknado - The Second One

That is the legitimate title of the film - hmmmmmmm it sort of implies there will be a third one.

At any rate Sharknado 2 lived up to all the prebroadcast hype.  In other words, it was bigger, grander, meaner, and funnier than its predecessor.

This time the sharks took major bites out of The Big Apple - Yep, NYC and its citizens became shark fodder.  Just as gory as the first one, this one was even more ironic and downright funny.

Everybody from Matt Lauer, Al Roker (the weatherman), Stephanie Abrams (from the Weather Channel) played themselves tracking the approaching "sharknado" as it neared NYC and then chomped it's way through the metropolis.

You'll see other famous faces in ironic roles.  My favorite was Judd Hirsch as a taxi driver who took the hero and his friends through the storm in Manhattan.  The irony of this is he used to be the star of a well-remembered sitcom called "Taxi".  It had a great cast which also included Danny DeVito and Christopher Lloyd who was memorable as the Reverend Jim.  In fact, it was due to Christopher Lloyd's improvisations that the show was known for having one of the longest sustained laughs in television history, which included all of the cast onstage.  Just remembering that scene makes me smile. But I digress.

Hirsch did a great job in the movie, but like many of the supporting cast, he was chomped eventually.

The movie started out with an homage to the film "Airplane" with the original actor who saved the plane in that one as the pilot when this plane was hit by the sharknado.  This movie's hero saved the day by landing the plane...the plot rushed on from there.

No one was safe from the sharks chomping their way - not at the NY Mets' stadium, not at the Statue of Liberty, not on the Staten Island Ferry, not in the subway, not in the skyscrapers, not in Times Square, and not on the street. Death came swift and sure, with gory, comic touches.

Sharknado 2, like the original is not for the super sensitive.  There is a lot of blood, viscera, but it is a farce for all of that.  There are genuinely funny moments, during which I hooted aloud while watching.  It is so ridiculous that it's hysterical.

Of course the mature adult in me with degrees both undergraduate and graduate, looks at the film as ridiculous.  After all, sharks can't live outside of the water.  They must constantly swim to push the water through their gills, otherwise they will die.  No way could they undulate along the ground, along a prone body, or through the air, chomping on anyone in their way and generally commiting mayhem.

The other thing was the variety of sharks depicted - everything from little nurse sharks to great whites.  In between there were tiger sharks, bullsharks, hammerhead sharks, and mako sharks to name the ones I recognized.

So yes, you have to suspend your disbelief and just live in the moment (or not if the sharks get you.)

This is like a zombie movie take-off.  You have to be prepared for all the blood, but if you can work your way through that aspect, it's entertaining farce.

I have to admit I kept rooting for the sharks in the case of the character played by Tara Reid.  She did an excellent job of returning in her role from the original.  She was just as obnoxious in this one.

During the broadcast, they posted tweets from audience members regarding the previous scenes.

Sharknado, the franchise, truly is a cultural phenomenon.

I'm sure both films will be repeated and replayed on SyFy - in fact they're repeating both back-to-back this Saturday evening.

Check it out.  That way you'll be ready for the third installment.

Steven Spielberg, look what you did!!!!