If you didn’t like Sharknado please stop reading. You won’t like this one.
If you did like the original, you’ll be happy to know that Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! is one of the most pleasurable movie experiences I’ve ever had the pleasure of partakin. My sister and I cheered, laughed, and cried.
I don’t want to ruin the “plot” for you, so instead I want to analyze Sharknado 3 by laying out the individual elements I found so appealing.
Awesomeness
SyFy Original Movies have always been beloved for the wrong reasons. Despite really trying to make gory, gritty science fiction movies they’re hampered by lack of budget, acting, and writing. As a result we have masterpieces like Sharktopus and Piranhaconda which crack viewers up with their absurd plot, campy special effects and incredible dialogue.
The Sharknado series decided to take it and run with it. They ramp the ridiculousness up to 11 and ride it to its natural conclusion. It’s a parody of something that wasn’t supposed to be a parody in the first place which normally is a recipe for disaster (Disaster Movie, Epic Movie, etc.) but Sharknado succeeds by playing it straight. Sharknado 3 isn’t hampered by expectations of subtlety.
The knowledge that their audience is willing to roll with whatever they throw out is a boon for any director and it’s used to its fullest extent here. And so sharks on roller coasters, on water slides, and (spoiler alert) in the White House are all fair game.
It’s wonderful.
Cameos
This movie has some of the best cameos ever for two reasons.
First, there are an insane number and quality of them. In the first fifteen minutes there’s Mark Cuban, Ann Coulter, Bill Engvall and Lou Ferrigno. That doesn’t even encompass some of the stranger ones as the movie goes on.
Second, almost all of them get to play a part and they play it straight as an arrow. There’s no *wink wink* reveling just people playing their parts like they meant it. Watching Mark Cuban play the President of the United States is truly something special.
Comedy
The Sharknado movies have always been funny for the same reasons as their SyFy Original: absurdity.
Yet the Sharknado films are of higher quality (stop laughing) than other SyFy films meaning they don’t get the same camp factor to rely on. But what really allows Sharknado 3 to be so enjoyable is the same reason that the cameos work out so well: playing it straight.
A scene where our heroes are flying fighter jets into a tornado of sharks to stop them from destroying a NASCAR race would be ruined if the characters reveled in the ridiculousness of it. Instead, they act it out as though it’s a serious mission and as a result it’s a great piece of comedy.
That moment above is so random, so sudden and played so seriously that its amazing. You wanna know the context?
Watch the movie.
It’s like if your male roommate walked out of his room wearing nothing but a lace thong and apron but instead of dancing to some absurd music, he just went about his day buying groceries and running errands. It’s inherently funnier when the joker doesn’t oversell the joke.
I enjoyed this movie with no sense of irony. It’s not like 2-Headed Shark Attack or Arachnoquake where part of the fun was how bad they were; Sharknado 3 is good because it’s good.
I urge you to watch at least the first twenty minutes and decide whether or not the movie is worth your time.
