For the entire month of April, Cinefessions will be locked into The Asylum, reviewing films released by the famed studio. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday throughout April you will get another review on a film released by The Asylum. April’s podcast will also be devoted to films from The Asylum, and you can decide which three will be reviewed right here. Today, Chris jumps back into the water and finishes up the Mega Shark trilogy as it takes on a Mecha Shark.
Title: Mega Shark vs. Mecha Shark (2014)
Director: Emile Edwin Smith
Runtime: 85 minutes
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April in the Asylum is coming to a close soon, and when I saw Mega Shark vs. Mecha Shark was available on Netflix Instant I just had to see how the trilogy finished off, despite not having seen the first film in the series (soon, I promise!). With that being said, this has been a moderately enjoyable month despite the bad word of mouth The Asylum has gotten over the years.
In this one, another Mega Shark appears from the depths of the ocean, and the government is forced to unleash their secretly made Mecha Shark! I won’t spoil what happens, but you can probably guess. The only common factor that makes this a series, besides featuring a Mega Shark (it’s a different one in each film), is Debbie Gibson. She returns in the same role from the first film – she was absent from the sequel – which is weird because she did a Mega Python film (as a different character) in between these two films.
Mega Shark vs. Mecha Shark has a fairly recognizable cast with Christopher Judge (Teal’c from StarGate SG-1, a great Sci-Fi show). As mentioned above, we have the return of Debbie Gibson in this film. Yes, that Debbie Gibson, who rocked out your radio in the ‘80s. Yeah, I don’t know any of her music either, but I know a few people who watched the original film only because she was in it. I don’t know about Gibson’s acting chops; she’s decent here, but Judge is under used, which is a shame because he was really good in other things I’ve seen him in.
Emile Edwin Smith is a brand new director and it shows with his first feature film. He tries to pull off some Michael Bay stunts, not realizing he is obviously directing a cheesy action film involving a giant shark versus a robotic shark. He also seems to lack the ability to get anything great from his cast.
This is probably the best looking film from The Asylum. The Mega Shark looks great this time around (shocker!). The Mecha Shark is super cheesy, and I loved it for that. The big finale is a lot of fun, too, but that poor child actress is pretty god awful, and takes away from a few otherwise entertaining scenes.
There’s a big problem, though: the thrills just aren’t there, and the cheese isn’t plentiful enough. So about one hour into the film, my attention was drifting away, and I couldn’t believe I still had another thirty minutes left. It’s a shame because this could have been as much fun as the second film in the trilogy.
I wouldn’t really recommend Mega Shark vs. Mecha Shark unless you want to see final chapter in the trilogy. Who knows if they’ll make a fourth film, but they have been marketing this as the finale to the trilogy. I was actually let down for once. Maybe I went in expecting more fun than I should have, but as it stands, it’s a pretty bland effort.
Chris was raised on horror films, which gave him a deep love for the genre, especially its most quirky and offbeat titles (like A Nightmare on Elm Street 2). This love quickly turned into an obsession for cinema in 1997, when he decided he needed to see every major theatrical release. Video games (JRPGs), reading (anything but fantasy), and reality television (Survivor) are just some of his other passions. He’s been with Cinefessions since 2013, and has been writing reviews all over the internet for the past twelve years.
