SyFy Channel is in the middle of a huge creature feature marathon that leads up to the world premiere of Sharknado 2: The Second One. During the massive monster movie marathon two films will be premiering as well, one of which is Mega Shark vs. Mecha Shark. I was able to catch the first airing of the feature last night and here are my thoughts.
Mega Shark vs. Mecha Shark is written by H. Perry Horton (2-Headed Shark Attack) and Jose Prendes (The Haunting of Whaley House) and directed by Emile Edwin Smith (visual effects in “Firefly”). Cast members include Christopher Judge (“Stargate SG-1”), Elisabeth Rohm (“Heroes”), Matt Lagan (Titanic 2), Hannah Levien, Paul Anderson, and singer Deborah Gibson.
“A new mega shark threatens to destroy humanity. The government creates an exact robotic copy of the shark, either equal to or greater than the original. Now they must fight to the death while people and whole cities get in the way.”
Here’s my problem with these CGI creature features as of late and in return Mega Shark vs. Mecha Shark. I don’t know if it’s because I’m getting older and growing out of certain phases of film viewing, but these movies just aren’t doing it for me anymore. The silliness is sky high and at this point it’s really been beaten to death. Not only do we have giant tornados throwing sharks but now we have a giant shark fighting a robot twin. Personally, I would love to see the CGI creature features continue as a popular subgenre of film, but they need to do something outside of alligators, crocodiles, octopus, piranha, sharks, and snakes. There’s so many more stories that can be told about nonaquatic animals that could be way more believable.
And I need to know why Debbie Gibson keeps being brought on board with these projects. While I do enjoy her as a human being, her acting abilities are…somewhat lacking lately. Mega Shark vs. Mecha Shark is actually her third creature feature behind Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus (2009) and Mega Python vs. Gatoroid (2011). I understand this title is a direct sequel to Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus so Debbie returning makes a lot of sense, but I’d still like to see another pop singer have a go at a giant shark. I mean, wouldn’t we all like to see Paris Hilton die over and over again until the end of time? But, summing up everyone else’s involvement with this feature, everyone pulled in an average to good performance as usual. I especially enjoyed Elisabeth Rohm’s performance.
It may seem like there’s nothing at all that I liked about this movie, but I can say with great honesty that it is one of the better produced SyFy movies to come out in a while. The production quality – minus the crap CGI – is more professional this time around and it actually looks like the budget was a tad higher allowing for better cameras and lighting. The film quality didn’t have the usual hazy look to it and the backing tracks weren’t as cheesy as usual. Had this movie had a better plot, it definitely could have one up-ed the first entry in the franchise.
Wasn’t a real fan here, obviously, and it struggled to keep my attention. I’m going to have to give this one a 4 out of 10. Best quality SyFy film in years in terms of production, but lacked just about every other quality that would have been positive.
