Post by Mr.HoRrOr on Dec 29, 2012 20:02:13 GMT -5
Plot:After the events at Lake Victoria, the pre-historic school of blood-thirsty piranhas make their way into a newly opened water park.
Cast:
Danielle Panabaker
Meagan Tandy
Clu Gulager
Chris Zylka
David Koechner
Paul James Jordan
Jean-Luc Bilodeau
Hector Jimenez
Adrian Martinez
My Thoughts:Fun sequel!
Review:"Piranha 3D" came out in 2010 and was pretty well promoted and did pretty decent bank at the box office. The film was definitely not a serious, horror movie. More along the lines of comedic horror. Similar to the 80's "Piranha" movie. A remake of that movie, which the 2010 film was. Then, came news that a sequel to that film was coming. But Alex Aja wouldn't be directing. Instead, John Gulager would be taking over the reigns. The sequel came out this past Summer, to not many reviews or ratings. Considering it was released onto just 86 screens. Hence, the reason why.
Dimension mishandled and misappropriated the sequel. Not sure why. Perhaps, no faith in it? Then why make it? *Shrugs*. Perhaps, they saw the niche audience part 1 drew in and decided to capitalize off of that. Unfortunately, those nicher's didn't show up for part 2 at the multiplex. On a $5 million budget, the movies gross before DVD was a hair under $371 grand. OUCH. Which is a shame because this was a pretty good sequel! A great sequel actually. It gets sort of outrageous by act 3 but visually, and entertainment wise, this film was fun! So last we left this universe of the "Piranha" franchise...chaos, and bloody carnage had unfolded at Lake Victoria.
Where the little biters, the Piranha's, had eaten a bunch of people. And all hell broke loose. The good guys, Shue's character and Rhames characters. Along with a few others...tried to battle the deadly sea dwellers. Unfortunately...as we found out at the end of the first movie. The smaller Piranha were just the beginning. "Piranha 3DD"...picks where part 1 left off. This time, at a new Water Park called "Big Wet". Which is run by Chet (Kochner). Who you might recognize from "Final Destination 5" and "Snakes On A Plane". Where he played Rick, the crude jetliner pilot.
Hot leading female duties this time around are taken over from "Piranha 3D"s Jessica Szohr...by Danielle Panabaker. A more genre-familiar face. She's been in "The Crazies" remake, "Friday The 13th" remake, as well as John Carpenter's creep-fest "The Ward". In this film, she plays Maddy. Chet's Stepdaughter. Her character is the usual good girl with a good head on her shoulders. Of course, she also is the apple of the lead boys eye. But because he lacks confidence and a real position of power in town, he doesn't think he can "land" her.
But things turn away from mushy love and relationship stuff very fast when the Piranha make their way into local waters, and begin attacking and killing random people. Setting up a track where they're eventually headed right for "Big Wet". With its grand opening rapidly approaching. Can Maddy and her friends stop the approaching "feeding frenzy" in time? "Piranha 3DD" is a fun movie. It encompasses everything "Piranha" (2010) did. Outlandish humor, even crazier kills, and of course crude sex-related humor. Which works in this film as not too overbearing. But more snicker-worthy and unfortunate for some characters who end up being the victim of it.
The Piranha's this time around are just about as vicious as their part 1 counterparts. Except now...they appear to be a lot smarter, and a lot more prone to leaping from the water after their prey. This is shown in a few scenes where to prevent their prey from escaping, they attack a wooden pier which in turn traps two unlucky female characters in a risky situation. And even then after they think disaster has been averted once they reach land. One of the piranha's leaps from the water in attack mode!
Of course the big plot-hole here in part 2, is that we never learn what became of the giant Piranha shown at the end of part 1. In which Christopher Lloyd's character Professor Goodman, reveals that the baby Piranha's apparently have "parents". But in this sort of sequel scenario, I don't really think totally ignoring "that" part of the first movies finale hurt the followup too much. Speaking of Mr. Goodman, when Maddy and her friends become the victims of a few Piranha attacks, and two teenagers disappear. They come to Goodman for help.
He of course alerts them that the Piranha are most likely back, and even clues them in on some more info he's garnered about the species via some tests that he's ran. However as a viewer, you don't really expect this information to really help in the end because most of the characters in this movie are so dumb and oblivious that they're practically fish-bait from the very beginning! In particular, the Chet character. And the local lawman Kyle, played by Chris Zylka. Zylka, another genre actor who's appeared in "Shark Night 3D", the "My Super Psycho Sweet 16" films, and the recently cancelled "Secret Circle" TV show. Kyle is the rival to Matt Bushes character Barry. In particular, thwarting his plans to land Maddy. His longtime love.
This film is carried quite well because it has cast so many actors who're familiar with this genre of film. So the performances work really well, and everyone plays well off of one another. But the casting at the same time was also affordable. As no MAJOR stars appear in this movie besides I guess maybe Lloyd. Who just has a few small scenes here and there. So the young leads move this film along nicely. And in between all of that, we get some bloody Piranha attacks. Which quite frankly, are a lot funnier than the attacks seen in part 1.
In this movie, the killer fishes find their way into some "interesting" crevices of the human anatomy. And all of the chuckle-worthy, gory, and graphic Piranha kills early on in the picture, set up a really fun third act. Where Big Wet has its grand opening, and wouldn't you know it? The Piranha's show up to ruin things. But another character makes an appearance near the end of the movie as well. David Hasselhoff. As himself...of course. His character is a huge egotist. A parody perhaps? Who knows, but it works within the context of this sort of movie.
Which really ratchets up the third act with the appearance of a surviving character or two from the first movie near the finale. In the form of Ving Rhames as Deputy Fallon, and Paul Scheer as Andrew. Fallon now fears the water after what's transpired in the first film. And he also doesn't have a leg to stand on...literally. But oddly enough, his character does something near the end that hurts the film. A cliched "surprise"...if you will, for the fishies when they come "nipping at his heels", so to speak.
Something that we've seen before in many genre films. And can thank Quentin Tarantino and "Planet Terror" for starting this trend. But the final act is where "Piranha 3DD" really shines. After the humor and wild (but brutal) demises, build up enough steam for the film to push through with a wild, wet, and hilarious finish. In which a bunch of folks get taken out, including a small fry! And when I say "small fry", I'm not talking fish here people! One scene near the end that really cracked me up, involved Zylka's character trying to "rescue"...a victim of the Piranha's vicious and bloody attack.
One scene that I wasn't too crazy about however, featured Chet, the films "King Douchebag"...getting what could be considered his comeuppance. Not gonna spoil it here for those who haven't seen the movie. But for a film with some genuinely creative kills, that one just felt a bit out of place and retreaded to me. "Piranha 3DD" may have come and gone through the multiplex like a quick summer breeze. But that doesn't mean you should pass up the opportunity to see it on DVD. It's a fun ride! Not as strongly casted or good as the remake, but pretty damn close!
THE GOOD:Great kills that really were in the vein and spirit of what the remake tried to accomplish. Great casting in a movie that didn't really have a "veteran lead" like Elisabeth Shue and Ving Rhames to go off of. A high entertainment factor, high blood and gore factors, and visually the picture matched the bright, and beach-like feel of the remake.
THE BAD:Two things that weren't drastically bad but annoyed me a little. Fallon's "cannon"...and Chet's death. I thought those ideas both could've been reworked for higher levels of creativity.
OVERALL:Three and a half stars out of four.