Product Description
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From director Alexandre Aja (The Hills Have Eyes) comes the new
action thriller PIRANHA 3D. Every year the population of y
Lake Victoria explodes from 5,000 to 50,000 for Spring Break, a
riot of sun and drunken fun. But this year, there's something
more to worry about than hangovers and complaints from local old
timers; a new type of terror is about to be cut loose on Lake
Victoria. 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 areas new razor-toothed residents. The film stars Jessica
Szohr (Gossip Girl), Steven R. McQueen (The Vampire Diaries),
Elisabeth Shue, Jerry O'Connell, Ving Rhames, Adam Scott, Richard
Dreyfuss, Christopher Lloyd, and Kelly Brook.
.com
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Debating the merits of Piranha 3D, director Alexandre (Mirrors)
Aja's testosterone-driven valentine to Joe Dante's 1978 original
and the excesses of '80s genre films in general, is a fool's
errand; it is, after all, a movie about prehistoric fish preying
on hormonal partygoers in various states of undress--and in 3D,
mind you--so any review must answer the question--does it deliver
what its key audience (young men, ages 14 to 24) require? On that
front, the answer is an unequivocal yes. Special effects creators
Greg Nicotero and Howard Berger present a veritable buffet of
gruesome ways for the thinly drawn characters to die, from a
piranha burrowing through a swimmer's head to the horrible
encounter between a boat propeller and a longhaired victim. The
sheer a of nudity on display rivals a week's worth of
Cinemax late-night screenings, rendered all the more excessive in
3D; as for the gimmick itself, it lends some unsettling depth to
the underwater attacks. In short, if one attends Piranha 3D for
grindhouse-style yucks, it's bound to be a rollicking good time.
All others may find its relentless, Red Bull drive wearying; the
whole affair is clearly meant to be a goof, just as Dante's
original (produced by Roger Corman and penned by John Sayles)
was, but where Dante's target was monster movie camp of the '50s
and '60s (as well as Jaws), Aja and writers Peter Goldfinger and
Josh Stolberg take at either cynical zeitgeist elements like
the Girls Gone Wild series (with Jerry O'Connell striking the
right tone as its craven creator) or hess partygoers, which
leaves an unpleasant aftertaste of misanthropy. Where the film
does succeed is in its supporting cast, which strikes the same
winking tone as Dante's version; Richard Dreyfuss and Christopher
Lloyd poke fun at their Jaws and Back to the Future roles, while
Adam Scott, comic Paul Scheer, and Eli Roth give appropriately
broad turns. Elizabeth Shue, of all people, is the sheriff hero
and acquits herself well to the absurd story line, as do Steven
R. McQueen (yes, Steve's grandson) and Gossip Girl's Jessica
Szohr as the film's Young Lovers. Again, taking issue with
Piranha 3D is like finding fault with a cheeseburger for being
greasy, but for those expecting a full-course meal, the fish get
all the big bites here. --Paul Gaita