Sharknado: Movie Review
What do you get when you cross a shark with a tornado? An appalling movie.
Rated MA15+. Starring Tara Reid, Cassie Scerbo, Ian Ziering. Out now on DVD and Blu-Ray.
Sharknado is on all accounts, unashamedly B-grade. A tele-movie produced by US cable network SyFy, it’s 82 minutes of my life that could have been much better spent on a variety of more productive activities. Cutting my toenails included.
But for the lack of production value, and the obvious goal to make a film so shocking and of such low quality that the whole world would get talking about it – which they did – it’s a pretty entertaining romp.
What's Sharknado about?
The premise (there’s not really a plot) is that a freak tornado is heading for Los Angeles and it has somehow gathered up sharks along the way. Not just any old sharks either – oversized ones with their sights set on killing humans. As the film unfolds, LA is flooded, sharks are everywhere, and it’s almost impossible to hide from the wrath of Jaws x 40,000.
As I mentioned, it’s clear that B-grade is the style Sharknado makers were going for. The acting is appalling, CGI of a 1996 standard, and the majority of the film is shot in a car as the characters ‘drive around’ for no good reason. You can even tell which are the disposable characters as you meet them, and you wait for them to be 'sharked'. But you really have to ask yourself – why did you hire this out? What did you expect? And the answer is probably either: you wanted 82 minutes of escapism; or, you wanted to see sharkageddon.
I was the latter, and Sharknado delivered. Sharks die by a bar stool to the head, bomb to the mouth, and dozens of other ridiculous scenarios.
Use your time wisely
I think this film challenges us about how we use our time. For me, 82 minutes of entertainment value led me to the realisation that my time could have been put to better use (taking out the rubbish). But even in the film, the lead characters don’t go to much effort to warn others about this impending doom, they spend most of the time looking after themselves and their family. They don’t use the time they have well.
In Ephesians 4:15-16 we’re told that when our identity is in Jesus (see Eph 3), this shapes the way we use our time:
Look carefully then, how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil.
I’ve been challenged recently about how best to spend my time in light of the coming Day when Jesus will return to judge. He’s definitely not going to arrive amidst a Sharknado, but we do need to be ready and it affects how we walk (or live). How are you going helping others to be ready for the Day, especially those who don’t know Jesus yet? And are you making the best use of your time that you have now?
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