Movie Review: Sharktopus (2010)

Synopsis: Nicole Sands helped her dad create a shark/octopus hybrid for the United States military and can control it remotely using electrical impulses. However, while testing their creation in the ocean waters near Mexico, an accident results in the creature being freed. It is now up to her and Andy, a former employee fired by her father, to stop the creature's killing spree while attempting to keep it alive.

Who's in it? The movie stars Kerem Bürsin, Sara Malakul Lane, Eric Roberts, Héctor Jiménez and Liv Boughn.

Review: Sharktopus has been out for some time and while I've known about it, I've always been a bit reluctant to watch it. However, I was having a hard time choosing a movie last night and figured it couldn't be much worse than some other shark movies we've watched recently so my wife and I finally gave it a chance. It ended up surprising me.

Look, I'm not going to pretend this is a good movie by any measure. The premise is farfetched. The acting not all that great and some parts of the film are just goofy, such as Andy (Bürsin) seeming to have an endless supply of bullets up until the final battle. The filmmakers also couldn't seem to decide on just how strong the shark/octopus hybrid was supposed to be, considering it seemed to be bulletproof but yet could be stabbed by a speargun. 

All that said, the movie wound up being surprisingly entertaining. The storyline was easy to follow and wasn't as predictable as I thought it would be. The various characters, while quirky, added something extra to the film, especially the wannabe star reporter (Boughn) who was both funny and a potential wild card. Plus, you had the sharktopus' creator (Roberts) who absolutely insisted the creature needed to be kept alive, even if it meant sacrificing Nicole (Lane), his own daughter. Since I knew this movie has sequels, his involvement did make me question how the movie would end.

Speaking of endings, as far as this movie's ending goes, it was also better than expected. I thought the sharktopus went a little too easy on Andy, who frankly probably should have been killed in a matter of seconds, but there was a decent amount of suspense and ultimately it was a satisfying ending that made me curious just how they bring the creature back for the second film. In fact, I'd never thought I'd say this, but I kind of want to see the sequel now.

Final Opinion: It's a made-for-TV film with budget limitations and a goofy plot. However, as long as you're willing to overlook the obvious flaws that come with that, it is still a fun movie to watch.

My Grade: B-