20140802: SciFi Review--Sharktopus vs Pteracuda

Sharktopus vs Pteracuda

1. Fundamentals, reception.
1. American live action feature length film, straight to video, 2014, UR, SciFi, action, unintentional comedy.
2. IMDB: 7.2/10.0 from 14 audience ratings.
3. Rotten Tomatoes: '...no results found...'
4. I saw this on the SyFy channel.
5. Directed by: Kevin O'Neill.  Produced by: Julie and Roger Corman.
6. Starring: Robert Carradine as Doctor Rico Symes, Conan O'Brian as himself, Katie Savoy as Lorena, Rib Hillis as Ham, Tony Evangelista as Lorena's boyfriend Rick, Hector Then as Harold Smith.


2. Setup and Plot
1. The TV movie opens with a flashback to the end of a previous sharktopus film, where the sharktopus is killed, but it manages to cast off a little sharktopus.  In the present, Harold has an ocean side resort where he keeps the now grown-up new sharktopus.  Lorena is trying to teach the monster new, better behavior.  Harold hopes the chimera becomes a hot attraction for his water resort.


2. Former MIT researcher Symes has put together another chimera, pteracuda (pteradactyl plus giant barracuda).  Unfortunately, a foreign agent, Vladimir, has hijacked the ability to remote-control the pteracuda.  Symes had hoped to sell the pteracuda as a particularly expensive genetic weapon, so losing control of the chimera is a disaster for him.


3. In order to get control back, Symes pays Harold a briefcase full of money for the sharktopus.  Subsequently, Symes and Ham kidnap Lorena in the hopes that they can reassert control of the sharktopus.


4. Both chimeras do a lot of damage to human beings.  Will the humans ever assert control over them?  Will the they be able to put an end to the killing?  Will Vladimir be neutralized?  Will the Fukushima scenario be implemented?


3. Conclusions
1. One line summary: Two monster chimeras; twice the fun.
2. Three stars of five.


4. Scores
1. Cinematography: 7/10 Most of it is rather good.  The CGI quality was mixed; some looked sharp and well done, some was truly bad.


2. Sound: 7/10 Neither great nor especially poor.


3. Acting: 5/10 Robert Carradine, Rib Hillis, and Katie Savoy were reasonably good, but most of the others were not so much.


4. Screenplay: 4/10 There was a bit more plot than I expected.