In the lineage of movie sequels that outdid their predecessors, there's The Godfather Part 2, Aliens, Terminator 2, The Dark Knight, and now...Sharknado 2: The Second One. Sharknado premiered on SyFy last July, and became an instant hit with audiences, aided by the fact that viewers were encouraged to Tweet about the movie as they watched it. What was it that made the latest offering from The Asylum so eminently watchable? The gleefully silly, go-for-broke absurdity of it all, where nothing was outside the realm of possibilities, and the low $2 million budget didn't stop them crafting some wild set-pieces, even if the effects were diabolical, the acting mostly terrible, and the central plot completely forgettable. It was a charming movie, and the clear love with which it was made earned it a place in the hearts of cineastes the world over for its "so bad it's good" quality, something director Anthony C. Ferrante has attempted to recapture with the fast-tracked sequel, aptly titled The Second One. With its tongue planted firmly in its cheek, Sharknado 2 is a much more self-aware movie than the first one ever was, and as a result is a damn sight more entertaining: it panders to audiences looking for stupidity and hilarity, and doesn't boast a single boring moment of screen time. Sure, it's no There Will Be Blood, but it's not trying to be. It serves up a trashy platter of gory thrills, hilariously over-the-top dialogue and leaves us eagerly anticipating the inevitable Sharknado the Third. Here are the 14 moments that had us crying tears of barmy joy! What did you make of Sharknado 2? Let us know in the comments!
14. Cameos Galore!
One of the primary reasons that Sharknado managed to outdo the original was the ridiculous litany of D-listers who wanted to get in on the action. In the main cast, we've got Tara Reid trying to keep afloat, Kill Bill's Vivica A. Fox giving a genuinely spirited performance, Sugar Ray's Mark McGrath, and Kari Wuhrer, who gamers might remember as Tanya from Command and Conquer: Red Alert 2. But what about the absurd number of cameos that this movie has to offer? - Kelly Osbourne plays an air hostess who is eaten by a shark - Billy Ray Cyrus plays a doctor - American TV show hosts Kelly Ripa and Michael Strahan appear as themselves, as do Today's Al Roker and Matt Laurer - Pepa from the pop group Salt-n-Pepa appears as one of Kari Wuhrer's friends - Rapper Biz Markie plays a chef - Gossip blogger Perez Hilton appears as an impatient man waiting for a train - Andy Dick cameos as a police officer with one line of dialogue - Robert Hays (the protagonist of the classic comedy Airplane!) appears as the pilot of the plane in the movie's opening sequence - Judd Hirsch (Taxi star) plays, you guessed it, a New York cabbie - Wrestler Kurt Angle plays a fire marshall - Wil Wheaton (Star Trek: The Next Generation) makes a blink-and-you'll-miss-it appearance as a plane passenger who gets his head chewed off - Actor Richard Kind makes a brief appearance as a retired baseball player (which we'll get to in a moment) There's no doubt plenty more we missed, but trying to spot as many celebrity cameos as possible was half the fun of Sharknado 2, and we're already thinking about who they could rope in for the next film. Charlie Sheen? Hulk Hogan, perhaps?
Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes).
General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.
