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Sharktopus
USA 2010
produced by Roger Corman, Julie Corman, Adam Blake Finer (associate), Stephen Niver (line), Dan Golden (line) for Star Entertainment/SyFy
directed by Declan O'Brien
starring Eric Roberts, Kerem Bursin, Sara Malakul Lane, Liv Boughn, Héctor Jiménez, Julian Gonzalez Esparza, Blake Lindsey, Peter Nelson, Maija Markula, Megan Barkley, Mary Corman, Kyle Trainor, Lindsay Conklin, Greg Norte, Blanca Ponce, Anna Marie Laurita, Jack Hzte, Veronica Nava Honc, Rob Donohoe, Brian Sheeran, Adrian De Leon, Patrick Lacho, Adriana Robin, Patrick Pryor, Richard Miller, Shandy Finnessey, Ralph Garman, Roger Corman
written by Mike MacLean, music by Tom Hiel, visual effects by Dilated Pixels
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Available on DVD! To buy, click on link(s) below and help keep this site afloat (commissions earned) |
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Sleazeball Nathan Sands (Eric Roberts) and his daughter Nicole (Sara
Malakul Lane) have developed a half-shark-half-octopus-all-killer creature
for the army, but somehow the creature has freed itself of its control
device, and now it kills kills kills along the coastline of Southern
California. Daddy Nathan wants his creature back at all costs, and alive,
too, that's why instead of asking the army for assistance, he sends out
Nicole with disillusioned former ally and ex-marine Andy (Kerem Bursin) to
capture it. Of course, the sharktopus is always at least one step ahead of
Andy and Nicole, and of course, Andy and Nicole first don't like each
other very much but eventually fall in love. And Nicole gradually comes to
the realization that daddy really is a sleazeball because he has messed
with sharktopus's DNA behind her back to make it more deadly than it
already was. Eventually, she decides the only sensible thing to do would
be to kill the thing, a sentiment shared by Andy of course, when daddy and
a couple of goons show up to keep them from doing just that - when
sharktopus shows up to kill all the baddies while leaving Nicole and Andy
alive. Eventually, sharktopus goes up river, which is bad because there
are many holiday resorts and thus many people to kill, but it's also good
because up river Nicole and Andy finally have the opportunity to corner
the animal and blow it up with some special device ... A
monster that's half octopus, half shark ... ok, I'm sold on the premise
and the title. And you know what, the special effects are actually pretty
decent, the creture looks quite impressive, and it's on camera long enough
for one to appreciate it. And yet, Sharktopus is a pretty bad film.
Basically, the film lacks narrative buildup. Most creature features of
this movie's ilk (think Jaws) follow a simple formula that slowly
builds tension and suspense until releasing the fireworks in the finale.
Not so this film: The whole premise is explained in pretty much the first
five minutes, and from then on it's just one sharktopus attack piled atop
the other, with little actually happening on the sidelines, and
narratively, the attacks are interchangeable. Even the finale is hardly
any more exciting or spectacular than any of the other attacks (maybe
apart from the explosion of course). Add to this totally flat characters,
uniformly charisma-challenged actors (except for Eric Roberts of course),
and an atmosphere- and shock-free direction that reduces all the
sharktopus action to its mere mechanics, and you're left with ... well, a
disappointment. Too bad, loved the title and the creature ...
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