“Sharknado” was last summer’s social media sensation — a disaster movie so bad it was hip. Even celebs like Mia Farrow flocked to Twitter to squawk about every ghastly moment.
For NBC’s Syfy network, this was a case of answered prayers — finally, it had a hit. Syfy aired the movie two more times, and at a special midnight screening in theaters. A sequel, in which the menacing sharks would flood New York City, was ordered.
And here it is.
The first time out, the awful acting and cheesy special effects took everyone by surprise; in the dead of summer, though, such things are welcome as the Hollywood studios wear us down with one dumb movie after another. Since this is another bad summer for movies, “Sharknado 2: The Second One” has a built-in cult following of fans who may delight in the same Z-level of writing, acting and craftsmanship.
So break out the Velveeta and settle in for roughly 90 minutes of inanity.
Even though much of “Sharknado 2” consists largely of screaming, gasping and grimacing by its stars, it does have a script by someone named Thunder Levin. (His lone other credit, “Mutant Vampires From the Hood,” speaks volumes.) And the writing here is pretty bad, with zingers including “This is the Big Apple. When something bites, we bite back.”
Mr. Levin’s “plot” finds ex-surfer and “Sharknado” hero Fin Shepherd (Ian Ziering) flying to New York with his ex-wife, April (Tara Reid), for a family visit. A vicious storm hovering over JFK causes more than a little turbulence. Sharks are soon shearing off the sides of the plane, surprising passengers using the restroom, decapitating flight attendant Kelly Osbourne and swallowing others whole. Robert Hays of “Airplane!” fame is flying the plane, but even he disappears. As for poor April, she shoots at one of the sharks — only to lose her hand to the beast.
Fin is the hero of the piece. He successfully lands the plane, makes bombs to send into the shark storm and leads the cast in the battle against shark domination. A hilarious escape sequence from Citi Field in Queens onto a poorly lit No. 7 train finds Fin fighting off a brazen shark with a baseball bat — while screaming, panting extras are gobbled up with abandon.
Unfortunately, a little of this mayhem goes a long way. Levin pads out the film with a truly ridiculous subplot in which the beefy Vivica A. Fox confesses her love for Ziering. And then there’s Matt Lauer and Al Roker, who keep popping up in bogus “Today” show segments that treat the fish storm as a serious urban threat. Talk about shilling. Sharks also invade the set of “Live with Kelly & Michael” (the show’s executive producer, Michael Gelman, gets a face-full of shark).
In addition to yesteryear starlets Reid and Fox, Ziering is joined by Mark McGrath and — in worrisome cameos — Tony winner Judd Hirsch and Tony nominees Richard Kind and, for God’s sake, Robert Klein. Must be tough times out there for senior New York character actors.
Like a lot of junk food, “Sharknado” might taste good while you’re eating it — but even with Cheetos, you have to know when to take your hand out of the bowl.