Throwback Thursday - Piranha 3D

Logline: After a sudden underwater tremor sets free scores of the prehistoric man-eating fish, an unlikely group of strangers must band together to stop themselves from becoming fish food for the area's new razor-toothed residents.

Cast: Elisabeth Shue, Jerry O'Connell, Ving Rhames, Christopher Lloyd, Adam Scott

Directed by: Alexandre Aja

Piranha 3D... I chose this one for two reasons.

1) It's definitely a challenging review to tackle.

and

2) I'm going to do a back to back Piranha end of the week hurrah. Both will be posted on Thursday because I have a wedding to go to out of town this weekend. Excited for that. :)

Summary

After reading the logline posted just a little bit above this section, you already know how these prehistoric piranhas got to Lake Victoria, Arizona. Their presence is quickly known as Richard Dreyfuss dies within the first five minutes to them. What the hell? That actually happens.

The story follows a family of 1 single mother, a teenage son, and 2 younger children. The mother is a cop that doesn't take shit & the son is a guy that keeps chasing this girl, but never does anything out of the ordinary - basically, he doesn't have fun because he's stuck taking care of duties his father would have if he was there - so she isn't very interested.

Piranhas have perfect timing. It's the biggest party of the year. Spring has arrived and the party has begun. Not just any party though, it's one on the beaches/docks of Lake Victoria that all popular, hot, and fun college kids attend to. DJs, loud music, alcohol, boats, you name it. Try being a cop trying to stop these party animals - you can't; everyone's been waiting for this party.

Let's just say, things don't end well for the party animals.

Review

I never went into the theatre for this movie thinking: "I can't wait to be thrilled by storytelling, power directing, character development, etc." I actually never go into the movie theatre saying that line exactly, but you know what I mean. I wasn't expecting much from this. I think that's why I enjoyed it so damn much. So much that I've chosen to watch its sequel and review it on my blog.

This movie picks its action, implements just enough story to keep you interested, and substitutes character development with what I like to call - fun and energetic summer popcorn thrills. This movie never takes itself seriously, and that's what makes it funny and dare I say it, good.

The last portion of the movie is an absolute blood bath. So many awesome things happen (for people that love gore that is). A girl gets her hair wrapped in a motorboat's propellers, Piranhas are killing everything, and it's just a huge bloody massacre. Ving Rhames during this scene is hilarious.

I just reviewed this movie with pure bias - and I broke my code of not rating movies based on comedy due to the variety of preferences people have. But, if you're watching Piranha 3D, there is nothing else to rate it by. It is what it is, you either like it or you don't.

Topic of the Day

Considering this movie doesn't have a meaty story, any memorable characters (other than Christopher Lloyd - missed him), or a containment for the creatures of the movie. Remember for The Raid I talked about trapping your characters in a situation they can't easily escape? Piranhas are in Lake Victoria... so what? Go home and stay out of the water. This movie relies simply on the fact that college students are dumb, which in some cases they can be, but it's quite the cliche.

So why does it work?

God, I've been trying to figure this out for the longest time. Maybe it didn't for some of you, but I sure as hell enjoyed it. I think, really, the main reason why I liked this movie was because it had this certain vibe to it. That vibe where the creators know the cliches of the genre, know all the things people have seen before, but do them anyway with their own style. And they do it rather comically too. It's almost like this movie was filmed as a dark comedy, even though it may not seem like it all the time. It never takes itself seriously, goes through standard and somewhat bland plot, but dresses it up with nudity and piranha carnage.

There isn't much more I can say on the topic, but to conclude what I'm saying, I guess this worked because it was a parody in some sense, a dark comedy in another, a horror/thriller for some, and a flat out comedy for the rest. For what this movie lacks in fundamentals, it thrives in genre switches, something I haven't seen much. I won't compare this to Cabin in the Woods which doesn't really have a genre - but they follow the same kind of path. You know? 

Consensus

Piranha 3D is exactly what its trailer sets it out to be; a summer popcorn flick that brings the nudity, the carnage, and the blood and guts. If you watch it with high expectations, it's highly unlikely that you will be satisfied when you finish. I personally enjoyed it due to its controlled genre switching back and forth & its awesome blood bath in the movie's final act. Definitely give it a watch just for your opinion, unless you have a weak stomach, because I thought it was on the verge of being well done.

6.6/10