RIFFTRAX LIVE: SHARKNADO 2 -- THE SECOND ONE

The original Sharknado left so many unexplored areas and unanswered questions that a sequel was required.  No, that's not right: It was just a terrible movie that somehow became popular (under the "so bad, it's good" theory) and so another one was made to milk more money out of it.  Fortunately, what's painful by itself can be transformed into comedy gold with commentary.  And that's what got me to see that abomination of a movie: Rifftrax Live: Sharknado 2 -- The Second One.

Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy, and Bill Corbett certainly have plenty of bad material to work with here.  Following the short "Parents -- Who Needs Them?" ("the film that made a young Bruce Wayne burst into tears at Gotham Elementary"), they jump into the sharky badness.  As for the movie itself, it's largely the same as the original (most of the cast, terrible CGI sharks, rapid switches from rain to sun), only it's set in NYC and, owing to the popularity of the first movie, there are lots and lots of d-list "celebrities" making cameos.  The trio have fun riffing it all, whether it's Mark McGrath's pseudo-celebrity as the former Sugar Ray lead singer, Tara Reid's... well, her presence, the heroes' insane plan ("Marvel super villains thing this plan is outrageous"), or the Statue of Liberty's head rolling down streets after the heroes.  ("To hell with physics!")

Possibly the scariest part of all this is that this month, Syfy will be airing Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!  (There was a preview at Rifftrax Live, and it's exactly what you'd expect.)  There's no way I'm watching that -- unless it's part of Rifftrax Live, in which case there's no way I'm missing it.

Overall grade: B+

Reviewed by James Lynch