Review by CJ

Director:
Anthony C. Ferrante

Starring:
Ian Ziering, Tara Reid, Masiela Lusha, Cody Linley, Imani Hakim, Ryan Newman, David Hasselhoff

Other notable appearances:
Gary Busey, Tommy Davidson, Stacey Dash, Steffanie Busey, Duane ‘Dog’ Chapman, David Faustino, Gilbert Gottfried, Steve Guttenberg, Justine Ezarik, Paul Shaffer, Scott ‘Carrot Top’ Thompson, Caroline Williams, Dan Yeager, Gena Lee Nolan, Alexandra Paul and so many more

Running time:
95 minutes

Watch this if you liked:
Sharknado, Sharknado 2: The Second One, Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!, Deep Blue Sea, Zombeavers

It has been five years since the last sharknado thanks to new preventative technology. When an anomalous sharknado appears in a dust storm, the sharknadoes begin to evolve to their surroundings and adapt to survive the technology designed to stop them. It is once again up to Fin Shepard (Ziering) and his family to save the world from various types of sharknadoes.

The Sharknado series has been a source of great entertainment for me since I first heard there would be a movie about sharks in a tornado (technically waterspout in the first one). Sharknado 4 is a good addition to the Sharknado series and the SyFy channel’s original movie catalogue as a whole.

There were so many variations of sharknadoes referenced in this film that I have no idea how they’re going to top it in Sharknado 5. I even started keeping a list of the different types of sharknado referenced in this film. I counted 11 variations on the name to describe what that particular sharknado was doing at the time. My favourite was cownado. Not even kidding. Cow. Nado.

If cownadoes aren’t deliciously ridiculous enough for you, there are male strippers fighting sharks. With their crotches. I had to pause the film because that scene made me laugh so hard.

While there were a few great moments (see also: deliciously ridiculous), I felt that there were far fewer laughs to be had in Sharknado 4 than the preceding three films. There were a few delightful cameos but most of the cameos have gone from b- or c-list celebrities to mostly d-list. David Hasselhoff is still the bomb though.

The acting in Sharknado 4 is how it has been in Sharknado 1-3. Look, it’s not good. It’s not supposed to be good. If it was good then it would take away from how (deliciously) ridiculous the Sharknado series is and we can’t have that.

The soundtrack to Sharknado 4 is a rocking. The upbeat punk rock style songs give Sharknado 4 the additional sass it needs to pull off such a cheesy concept in a way that could easily fall flat.

I highly recommend Sharknado 4 to fans of cheesy b-grade monster/natural horror films. I never thought I would be saying this, but I do feel you would be best off having seen Sharknado 1-3 before viewing Sharknado 4. There are some plot points that will be best enjoyed if you have seen the preceding films.

Rating:

“It wouldn’t be Texas without a chainsaw massacre.”