Piranha 3D

We rushed to see Piranha 3D and we were excited, as 3D can be a great fun. Sometimes it’s a visual adventure regardless of the story or the reality level: and this movie is a perfect example.

It’s a simple story; lake full of people; having a blast; and we all know there’s nothing to be afraid of in the water anymore, right? Wrong!! If a lake bottom opens up to release pre-historic killer fish (no spolier here; you see this in the first seconds) you are in a soup of hot; red, bloody water!!

Lots of great actors here; having fun with a fun movie (yes, I know how many times I’m using the word “fun”; it’s just how I see this film). The movie perfectly balances good ol’ 3D shots; with the shock and tension that pays a great tribute to the original JAWS. You even get to see one of JAWS’ stars do a great cameo.

It’s over-the-top and uses 3D to emphasize other numbers: like the 36-24-36 variety. Or maybe I should say they 36-Double-D variety to be even more clear. They deliver attack after attack and you don’t have much downtime in between. In my theatre; lots of people jumped at the right places and laughed at the right places.

Character development is minimal; but having well known actors all play equally “small roles” as part of an ensemble-cast seems to work with a horror film that doesn’t take itself too seriously.

You need to have some funny bone in you to enjoy this and be willing to say “forget plot; just throw a scary campire story at me”. And the movie short run time is just right too; to get you out before the 3D becomes tiring and you start craving a real plot. This is one of those rare movies that doesn’t need plot and character development to have a good time.

3 good things about this movie:

1. Wonderful tribute to Jaws; including a Jaws cameo.
2. Elisabeth Shue is still gorgeous despite wall-to-wall females in bikinis to compete with
3. Great attacks/surprises: I mean if a school of piranha are all working together you can never know what’s going to come out of the water:…watch for the girl para-sailing behind a boat; dipping in and out of the water…what do you think is gonna happen?!

3 bad things about this movie:

1.Paying extra for 3D
2.A piranha bites off a male organ and the visual that will hit you where it hurts—this was the only time I thought they made a mistake…
3.Not sure if i just got used to it, or they toned it down, but the last “third” of the film didn’t even seem all that 3D to me.

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