Sharknado is a 2012 television disaster movie through the SyFy channel starring Tara Reid and Ian Zierling. The film became a viral hit because of the rather strange yet exciting plot– a shark-filled tornado attacking the city of Los Angeles. Sharknado is a rather unique action film and is genuinely entertaining with its complete and utter embrace of the Mystery Science Theater 3000 mantra, “It’s only a show; I should really just relax.”
The film opens by focusing on Fin (Zierling), a local surfer and bar owner who has a strained relationship with his wife April (Reid). There is a rather normal reaction to the hurricane preparation with the bar’s patrons watching the news unfold. Suddenly, a shark is thrown onto the pier to the astonishment of everyone in the bar. They are mostly amused as sharks tend not to do well on land. The shark then begins to lurch almost suicidally towards any humans coming near and begins the rampage known as Sharknado. The rest of the movie is centered around Fin coming to save his wife and meet with a son of his friend in pilot school so that they can somehow defeat the Sharknado.
Sharknado is an interesting film to say the least. This movies is rather fun and easy to enjoy as long as the viewer does not ask any questions, goes along with it, and just enjoys the ride. Don’t ask how they can fly a helicopter in a tornado, don’t ask how a bomb is supposed to destroy a tornado, and don’t ask how sharks are thriving so well in the air. As a fun disaster movie which does not take itself even slightly seriously, I cannot highly recommend it enough to pretty much anyone. Fans of disaster movies will find even more enjoyment at this light-hearted poke at the normally serious genre, similar to what Airplane! did in the 1980’s.