Thrash
I thought I would sample the “creatures who shouldn’t do that” pool again. Instead of the huge alligators of Crawl, which I liked more than expected, I went for an inundated town full of free range sharks. Both feature a hurricane, lots of splashing around in water full of hungry carnivores, and the human chums who welcome them. Mostly, I caught the trailer while sitting in an insomnia stupor on the couch one night and saw an actor that I like and decided to watch. When the movie started, I then noticed the director’s name and was even happier.
The story, as you might expect, is simple (at times simple minded), though the premise is kinda clever. A category five hurricane is fast approaching a small town full of nice old houses and some people who somehow thought it was okay to stick out 150 mph winds. There is a trio of siblings with the worst foster parents of all time, a very pregnant office worker who stays to finish paperwork (duh) at the meat packing plant. She stops for a moment to talk to the trucker who has just finished overloading his tank with offal and blood, before heading to the hospital to have the baby. A young woman across town has an anxiety attack just walking down the street in the rain so she goes home and hides on the couch. Her uncle the shark expert is a hundred miles away, so he can’t help a lot. The big truck is broken in half and a mile long blood slick calls all the sharks in.
It’s a good, leisurely buildup, with loads of foreboding social media warnings, rain lashed streets, and sympathetic characters. Time to place your bets on who lives. Then the storm surge pushes ten feet of ocean forcefully into town. There’s a lot of yelling and splashing, people being heroic and a herd of bull sharks. Up to the point the hurricane hits town it’s pretty good. I ignorantly kept waiting for it to get, you know, windy. I understand this is not a huge budget movie and depicting 157+ sustained winds would really be a huge pain. But we had more wind last night here, and more rain, than the town of Annieville suffered in the movie. Those quaint buildings must have been REALLY old because they folded like a wet newspaper. At one point someone puts – not nails – the word “help” on the roof. Go ahead and laugh, I did. The wind will rip that off in one second and I’ll make a sarcastic remark, I thought. Hmph. Foiled again.
Here’s the weird part. I didn’t hate it. My eyes are a little sore from rolling around, like at the rib boat that makes a hundred mile trip going five miles an hour, without stopping for gas, in a couple of hours. There was one really egregious cgi moment but it didn’t last long. And I am, as always, irritated that Hollywood people think dynamite is on par with 4th of July firecrackers. There was not a little of that kind of nonsense, but the rest of the movie made up for it. It’s a good looking film, with solid cinematography, some funny musical choices and well done suspense. The shark work is okay for the most part and there is a significant toning down of the gore that we saw in Crawl. There is a lot of water and the sets come apart in a fun way as the flood tears the town apart. The acting is solid all the way around, with some good new faces and a couple of older, recognizable people. There are even a few laugh out loud, on purpose even, moments.
I was not surprised by the social media buildup after seeing who the director is. Zombie movies are required by law to have some of that, and Tommy Wirkola is a top notch zombie movie maker. He did the hilarious and gory Dead Snow (Nazi zombies) and the even more hilarious and gorier Dead Snow 2 (more Nazi zombies) and the non zombiefied dark comedy The Trip. He also sneaked in a nod to the classic Evil Dead. His movies are great; he even pulled this off to the point where I thought it dumb in places but still enjoyed it for what it is. The uncle is played by Djimon Hounsou (A Quiet Place: Day One, Guardians of the Galaxy), his anxious niece is Whitney Peak (Gossip Girl, Hocus Pocus 2), and the pregnant paper pusher is Phoebe Dynevor (Bridgerton).
Okay, if I’m being totally honest, this movie has more holes than a chum bucket. I’m not quite sure why I felt it was okay but I’m not unhappy I saw it. It’s nice to see some of the young talent and know some good is coming out of Hollywood. Wirkola has managed to produce a credible work that will be fine for you to watch if you enjoy creature features. It’s no Sharknado, but you will probably enjoy yourself.
Triggers: some noshy sharks, a pregnancy scene that made me giggle but YMMV
Available on: Netflix (sorry, that’s all)
LINKS:
CFR: In Addition
Snort. Laugh. Choke. Oh my. Cranky, you find the best movies to review. You are a joy. Never leave me; Always be with me. I adore your choices. I mean how could you not love a movie called Thrash about sharks that invade a small town and swim in the streets?
I wasn’t going to watch this as it looked, ok, trashy, but Cranky watched it and seemed to sort of like so I will – HOLY TOLEDO BLADES IS THAT DAPHNE? You know, Daphne’s actress Phoebe Dynevor who played Daphne in the first season of Bridgerton that set off a global phenomena? Why yes it is. Now – OMG ARE YOU KIDDING ONE OF MY FAVORITES IS IN THIS? Djimon Hounsou is a wonderful actor and I love to see him in anything. Ok. I might have to watch for those two.
Plus small towns. I lived a few years in one and am surrounded by them. I love my somewhat rural area. I also agree with Cranky that things would work a bit differently in a real small town. Especially one that was near that much water. Also, I LOVE a pregnant heroine. Just love seeing the physical muti-tasking. Totally bada$$. Off I go to mark time for watching. Or at least giggling.
BTW: Sharks don’t act like that. Sharks are NOT the great predators people make them out to be in movies. Same with wolves. Period. Good grief chill.
Chick Flicking Reviews 