Skip to footer

'Sharknado 3': Has the fun gone out of the franchise?

The third 'Sharknado' movie premiered on Syfy on July 22, with stars Ian Ziering and Tara Reid returning, and cameos by such personalities as Al Roker, Matt Lauer, and 'Game of Thrones' writer George R.R. Martin. A fourth movie is already planned.

|
Syfy/AP
'Sharknado 3' stars Ian Ziering.

A third installment in the “Sharknado” movie series premiered on July 22, on cable channel Syfy.

The original “Sharknado” film aired in 2013 and starred Ian Ziering of “Beverly Hills, 90210” as Fin Shepard, a bar owner who must step up in defense of his California town when a tornado picks up sharks. (I didn’t really need to explain a sharknado to you, did I?) Tara Reid of “The Big Lebowski” co-stars as his ex-wife. The film did fairly well in the ratings when it first aired, but when Syfy decided to air the movie again the same month, buzz over the film caused an increase in ratings from the first airing. When the movie aired a third time, it did even better in the ratings and the movie was screened in some theaters.

The 2014 film, “Sharknado 2: The Second One,” performed incredibly well ratings-wise, with the film taking the title of the most-watched Syfy original movie ever.

In addition to its ridiculous plot twists – in the first movie, Ziering’s character, Fin Shepard (yes, that name is correct), escapes from inside a shark using a chain saw – the movies became notable for their cameos, with reality star Kelly Osbourne, YouTube star Wil Wheaton, comedian Judah Friedlander, and NBC fixtures Matt Lauer and Al Roker, among others, appearing in the second film.

One thing Syfy has done well is get fans involved with the creation of the films. The network asked fans to submit ideas for the title of the second movie over Twitter and a planned fourth film will involve even more participation from fans. The character of April, portrayed by Reid, was in peril at the end of “Sharknado 3” and viewers were soon informed that only they could save her. “Now's your chance to be part of 'Sharknado' history," a voiceover said. "You decide if April lives or April dies… Her fate will be revealed in 'Sharknado 4.' Because we're not done yet.” Fans can tweet their choice or vote on the Syfy website.

However, some felt the cameos in the third “Sharknado” movie were a bit much and that product placement was nearly overwhelming. One critic wrote that the “flurry of familiar faces seems more forced than funny” and that an extended segment that takes place in Universal Studios Orlando (Syfy is owned by NBCUniversal, which also owns the park) causes the film to “serv[e] less as a comedy than as a travelogue for Universal Studios Orlando.” Another reviewer agreed, writing that “much of the time [the film] shills for NBCUniversal and Comcast products and personalities.” 

Nevertheless, that fourth movie is on its way. Earth can apparently never truly escape the menace of airborne sharks.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to 'Sharknado 3': Has the fun gone out of the franchise?
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Culture-Cafe/2015/0723/Sharknado-3-Has-the-fun-gone-out-of-the-franchise
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe