Sharks. Tornados. Famous landmarks. Cheesy acting. Explosions. More sharks.
(WARNING SPOILERS!)
Three years ago, the Syfy channel released the first of its famously absurd movie series “Sharknado”. Contrary to the usual trend of Syfy’s summer flicks, the story of a freak storm drawing hungry fish from the ocean to rain down death and cheap effects upon Los Angeles became something of a national phenomenon. Maybe it was the fact that the world had not ended in 2012, leaving us to contemplate our potentially bright futures and lack of inexplicable doom; but for some reason, America was able to sink its teeth into this movie.
Ever since the movie Jaws began terrorizing the movie scene in the 70’s, sharks have become one of the most feared creatures in the sea. Maybe Syfy asked, “What would happen if we dumped a ton of sharks on a city?” While the general sense of this idea is quite lacking, this surreal scenario of “biting rain” gives an opportunity for a heartfelt story about a family to develop.
If you are unfamiliar with the characters of Sharknado, the hero is a former pro-surfer named Fin who had sacrificed his marriage and custody of his children in pursuit of fame. In the time since his short-lived fame, he has settled down as the owner of a beachside bar. In usual Syfy style, the extremely implausible storm crashes into the L.A. coast. Barely evacuating in time, Fin makes a judgment call and searches for his estranged family and even manages to save all of them (minus his ex’s new husband) from a shark in their flooded house. As the film unfolds, Fin, his friends, and his family eventually stop the sharknado by using some helpful pseudo-science and homemade bombs. By the end of the film, it is clear that even though he had taken them for granted before, Fin’s family is the only thing that matters to him.
In the sequel “Sharknado 2: The Second One!”, Fin and his ex-wife April are in a relationship again, trying to rebuild something good after the horrors they had seen. Inexplicably, several sharknados appear in the New York area, attacking the couple’s airliner. In that bloody surprise, April’s arm (holding a gun) is bitten off by a passing shark. April remains in the hospital while Fin goes off to rescue her family. At the climax, Fin is on the roof of the Empire State building, about to be eaten by an incoming flock(?) of sharks. April (with a hastily assembled buzz-saw prosthetic) slays one of the sharks. Fin recognizes the fish, reaching inside to pull out April’s hand and gun from earlier. Through the power of firearms, construction tools, a mob of New Yorkers, and the power of love, this storm is also defeated. But that is overshadowed by the touching scene when Fin pulls the ring off of April’s severed hand to propose to her.
“Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!” seemed mostly like an attempt to outclass the strangeness and celebrity cameos of the previous films (casting David Hasselhoff as Fin’s father), but there is still a strong theme of family solidarity in uncertain times as the film ends with April giving birth to a baby boy (named Gill) while descending from space in the body of a massive shark. See? This one got a little weird. However, the fact that this overwhelming strangeness is countered by the simple miracle of a child shows a remarkably moving theme that no matter what is going on, love and family prevail.
The most recent installment “Sharknado 4: The Fourth Awakens” somehow manages to out-weird all of the other films. If it were not for a consistency in the family theme throughout, it would have been almost complete nonsense. But Syfy has taken care in making these beautifully horrible films. After a comically long series of sharks swallowing main characters and then being swallowed by successively larger sharks and a whale; it looks like the heroes have finally met their ends. Gill saves them. The child, with mini-chainsaw in hand, carves through the layers of fish and blubber to save his family.
I will not pretend that these plotlines make any sense, honestly it was all likely written as a dare; but through some freak accident, these films are united by an elegant theme; that no matter what storms (shark or otherwise) life brings, the power of love and the unity of family will always persevere.
