SHARKNADO 3: OH HELL NO! (2015)

Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! (2015)

Synopsis: When Fin and April go to Florida for the summer vacation, strong winds and lots of rain comes to Florida and a Sharknado comes and destroyes Florida. The Sharknado goes to Washington D.C. and sharks falling from the sky. It's up to Fin and April to stop the Sharknado the third time.

This movie starts with Fin getting an award from the President at the White House. Of course a Sharknado would hit and luckily, Fin is there to save the day. Meanwhile, April and Claudia are in Florida on vacation and they are awaiting Fin's arrival but because of the Sharknado, all flights are grounded and he has no choice but to drive down. That is when reports start hitting that there are multiple Sharknados forming. They come and go almost at will, unlike any that they have seen before. They all appear to merging into one “Perfect Storm.” We are introduced to some old and new friends that help Fin along the way, ending in the one place the sharks have yet to go, but a place that was inevitable for them to make it at some point.

 

Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! Has everything we have expected from the franchise. It is packed with some of cheesiest most unbelievable sequences I could ever imagine seeing in a movie, but they are done so beautifully. Five minutes into the movie, Fin busts a shark's face wide open by smashing a bust of George Washington. There was about a 30 second clip that was just a shark going back and forth on a roller coaster. Sharknado attack at the Daytona 500. Sharks attacking Universal Studios and getting involved in some of the rides like Twister and Disaster. The hanging shark from Jaws at Universal coming to life to eat people posing for a photo (This also made me sad that the Jaws ride is closed. Imaging the cool things they could have done with it). Sharks in space. The literal birth of a new character that took place inside the belly of a shark. Fin is awarded a golden chainsaw as he is named the first member of the Order of the Golden Chainsaw. And maybe the coolest of all, the modification of that golden chainsaw into a light saber chainsaw. Personally, one of my favorite things about this movie is that Cassie Scerbo returned to reprise her role as Nova, even though this time around, she's even more of a badass than she was in the original.

 

One of the most remarkable things about this whole franchise is the fact that it seems there is no one who doesn't want to be involved in it in one way or another. Sharknado 2 brought in quite a few celebrity cameos such as Kurt Angle, Andy Dick, Billy Ray Cyrus, Pepa, Biz Markie, and many many more. So obviously, Sharknado 3 had to up themselves and go for even more. Robert Klein reprised his role as the mayor of New York and the Today Show cast got their spots back. Unfortunately for them, they didn't fare as well as they did in the last one. Looks like their cameos are done. But as far as new cameos, Sharknado 3 gave us Mark Cuban, Frankie Muniz, Lou Ferrigno (and yes, he did say “Don't make me angry”), David Hasselhoff, Bo Derek, Michael Winslow, Chris Jericho, Ann Coulter, Bill Engvall, Cindy Margolis, Rick Fox, Jerry Springer, Penn & Teller, Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, Kendra Wilkinson, and Holly Madison. My favorite cameo was made by George RR Martin. While at a movie theater, a shark bursts through the screen and starts biting him, squirting his blood all over the woman next to him; a woman who just so happens to be wearing a white wedding dress. Than another shark bursts through the screen and bites his head off; referening 2 of the most heartbreaking moments (and moments he got the most fan grief for) in Game of Thrones, The Red Wedding and the beheading of Ned Stark. I'm sure there were probably atleast another dozen cameos that I'm failing to mention so in the extremely off chance that one of those people ever reads the review, I'm sorry.

 

There were another few references in the movie that I personally found pretty cool as well. In the above mentioned scene with George R.R. Martin, the movie they were watching was Shark Wedding. The title is made up to reference the Martin thing again, but the movie did consist of a 3 headed shark. One of the movies premiered during Sharknado Week was 3 Headed Shark Attack. There is another point in the movie where a military guard played by Kalita Smith makes the comment that she hates sharks. Frankie Muniz's character replies with “it could always be worse... could be zombies.” Another movie that premiered during Sharknado Week was Zombie Shark (Smith also starred in SyFy's Z Nation). Mark Cuban played POTUS and he commented about how people used to call him a shark which I'm assuming is a reference to him on Shark Tank. And lastly, these movies always have some kind of reference to the King of all shark movies. In this one, the license plate pulled out of the Tiger Shark in Jaws was inside of Nova's super camper, and Chris Jericho's characters name was Bruce which as any horror fan knows was the name of the animatronic shark in Jaws. Much like the list of cameos, I'm sure there are also a ton of references I missed on out as well.

There is something about this whole franchise that I find almost amazing. I can't help but wonder if they made the original with the thought that it was going to be just another one of the run of the mill creature feature movies. This series may literally be the saving grace for the SyFY Network. Not that I feel it was ever in danger of going under. They do have some good series that have a very loyal fan base (Face/Off, Defiance, Haven, Dominion). More importantly to me, they have their network original movies that I have made no secrets in hiding how big of a fan I am of them (Sharktopus, Frankenfish, Piranhaconda, etc...). The problem with those movies in I'm not sure how many other loyal viewers like me there are out there. They definitely don't cater to anyone outside of that circle. But there is something different about Sharknado. This is a world wide phenomenon that I don't really recall any other movies that have brought in such a wide range of viewers. I've never seen a movie cause social media to blow up the way it has. Hell, I have friends who didn't know they had the SyFy channel until Sharknado came around. There is no way anyone could have expected this franchise to blow up the way it has.

 

Whatever it is about this franchise that has people hooked, we love every second of it. And we will keep coming back for more. And SyFy has rewarded us for that by doing something that I've never seen done in a movie before. They are leaving it up to the fans to decide the fate of one of the characters. Fans vote if that person lives or dies, and that vote will determine the beginning of Sharknado 4. Nothing like taking a franchise that already has a ton of followers, and now making us feel like we are legitimately involved in the making of it. Great move by the network. SyFy gave us a very rewarding finish to a very solid member of what could arguably be called the most popular movie franchise in the world right now.
 

         

reviewed by Bobby