Sharktopus

Sharktopus (2010)

A company run by a man named Nathan Sands is developing the Navy’s next big weapon. With the help of his daughter, who is apparently a brilliant scientist, he has created a shark octopus hybrid capable of wrecking havoc on our enemies. But when the control mechanism is damaged during a test run the creature goes on a killing spree. And since Nathan had it modified so it was more of a killer then just a hunter, the creature is doubly dangerous. The rest of the movie is Nathan’s daughter and a former employee trying to track down the sharktopus to kill it, while a newswoman and her cameraman are trying to get a story.

Where do I start with a movie like Sharktopus? When I first saw the trailer for the flick and saw that it was produced by the legendary Roger Corman I was pretty excited. I’m always down for some cheesy and dumb creature action. And when you top it off with how absurd the creature in this movie looked it seemed to me it was going to be pure cinematic gold. Which in many ways it was. Though in other ways I was sort of disappointed. Lets start with the good.

Sharktopus captures all the elements of what made the old creature features a blast. You have a ridiculous looking “monster” that is running around (or in this case swimming around) munching down on the locals. The best creature features need to either have a scary looking lead or a really goofy one. You know you are either playing the movie to freak the audience out or for laughs. Sharktopus is definitely leaning towards the comedy. And it is funny looking and a blast. The movie also has several set pieces that it sets up to amuse the audience. There is a bit with a girl bungee jumping that is pretty good and Roger Corman’s cameo is so damn funny, especially with his reputation for being cheap. Eric Roberts is also clearly having a good time chewing up the scenery as the lead bad guy, Nathan Sands. He is the most recognizable face and gives the best performance in the movie. Sadly he doesn’t get enough screen time and gets lost in the shuffle of too many storylines. Which leads me to my issues with the flick.

Creature features need to keep it simple. Get your baddie loose quickly and let the hero or heroes begin facing it down. This movie does get to the mayhem and killings fast, but then goes off the course. We are hit with so many plotlines. You have the daughter and her father in conflict. Then you have the former employee who is boozing it up before being lured back with piles of cash to hunt down the sharktopus. There is also the plot with the reporter and her cameraman, who meet up with a boat captain who has had an encounter with the monster. Hell we even get a small subplot with a DJ of a pirate radio station that only seems to be there to allow a comedian (who I honestly haven’t ever heard of) ham it up a bit. When you add in the various set pieces for the sharktopus to rampage thru, like the dancing performance, jet skiers, ship painters, and a couple of beach scenes, it just makes the movie feel “choppy”. I was never able to really get into any of the individual characters and feel like they should have kept it to one plotline. Not doing this killed the pacing and ruined some of the “fun” factor that I had hoped for when seeing the trailer.

Yeah I can hear many of you yelling at the computer screens. I realize it is a dumb creature feature, but I still expect a story with characters that are interesting. I’ve seen good monster movies and plenty of bad ones. The better ones always have a strong script and cast. Sharktopus sadly lacks this. But there is enough going for it to warrant at least checking it out once if you dig this sort of movie. I just wouldn’t expect too much.

2 ½ out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer