Synopsis
From IMDb.com: 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.
Review, by @Reelreviewer
His name may not be well-known to audiences, but when Alexandre Aja crops up on the credits as the man wielding the megaphone, I know I am in for a good show.
His remake of The Hills Have Eyes (2006) had me shaking in my seat, and the alligator attack Crawl (2019) made me want to crawl to a safe place, so he knows how to get his audience freaking out.
Piranha 3D is a (sort of) continuation from the 70’s/80’s series of movies, one of which saw James Cameron’s directorial debut with 1982’s Piranha II: The Spawning. It ight not be Aja’s greatest movie, but if his name is stamped on a horror flick, you will at least be intrigued enough to settle down and see if there are some good scares. Alas, they are few and far between.
There is a lot of exposition, and when the action starts, it’s relatively tame, although the British Board of Film Classification give this its top adult rating, an 18. There is blood and some gore, but I’m sure kids have seen far worse in other horror films and series.
The plot is almost the same as Jaws (1975) – the original Piranha movie in 1978 directly spoofed Spielberg’s classic film – but with more nudity, sex, flashiness and camp. The 2010 film is less funny and too self-aware of being a ‘product’. At least with Jaws, Spielberg had no inkling of the juggernaut it would become. In fact, he thought the troubled production would end his career.
There are some notable ‘tweaks’ to the old psychotic piscine story – Jerry O’Connell, take a half bow, please. As the comically sleazy pornographer attempting to make a nautical naughty number and constantly flummoxed by those around him, he is the film’s raison d’etre. After being gnawed at by the watery foes, he opines the loss of his manliness…it’s hard to feel sorry for him.
Aja has a great pairing with Shue and Rhames, but does not use them well. The duo have some great rhythm and humour between them…then the rug is pulled from under them, and they share no further scenes. A criminal waste; I think the script should have been tweaked to capitalise on this.
Shue has a cute on-screen reunion with her Back to the Future co-star Christopher Lloyd. Lloyd has cornered the Hollywood market in comically mad scientists and hardly needs to put his back out as a local eccentric who knows a ‘fin’ or two about piranhas.
Attempting to make a mark (and mostly failing) is a young and good-looking lad called Steven R. McQueen. You might not recognise the face, but it’s directly related to a very famous Hollywood icon – his paternal grandfather was Steve McQueen (yes, he of Bullitt (1968) and The Towering Inferno (1974) fame). What the younger generation lacks in acting skills is, however, more than made up for with face card.
The 3D technology might have helped it reap just over $80m at the box office against a $24m budget, but it’s wasted outside theatres.
It also would not have glossed over some of the logic errors in the action – a thin rope stretched between two boats for a rescue, and an adult woman (English ‘lads mag’ lovely Kelly Brook) and two kids traversing it at the same time. Needless to say what happens.
A sequel, Piranha 3DD, was released in 2012 to little fanfare.
Cast & credits
Director: Alexandre Aja. 1hr 28mins/88 mins. Dimension Films/Intellectual Properties Worldwide/Aja / Levasseur Productions/Atmosphere Entertainment MM/Chako Film Company/The Weinstein Company. (18).
Producers: Alexandre Aja, Mark Canton, Grégory Levasseur, Marc Toberoff.
Writers: Justin Michael, Jacob Reed.
Camera: John R. Leonetti.
Music: Michael Wandmacher.
Sets: Clark Hunter.
Elisabeth Shue, Steven R. McQueen, Ving Rhames, Jerry O’Connell, Kelly Brook, Christopher Lloyd, Riley Steele, Crystal, Adam Scott, Eli Roth, Jessica Szohr, Ricardo Chavira, Dina Meyer, Richard Dreyfuss.
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