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AccessReel Reviews – Piranha 3D

AccessReel Reviews – Piranha 3D

From director Alexandre Aja (The Hills Have Eyes) comes the new action thriller PIRANHA 3D. Every year the population of sleepy 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.

Spring Break is a right of passage that every red-blooded male looks forward to at the end of his High School life. Unfortunately for Jake Forrester (Steven R McQueen), he’s stuck babysitting his little brother and sister while his mom – Local Sherriff Julie Forrester (Elisabeth Shue) keeps the town safe from those pesky teenagers looking to party.

When Jake meets Danni (Kelly Brook) an unbelievably hot porno actress and gets recruited by ‘Wild, Wild, Girls’ producer Derrick Jones (Jerry O’Connell), to be a Location Scout for his latest porn-extravaganza, he does the only thing a guy in his situation should do. He bribes his brother and sister to stay home and not tell their Mom and hops aboard the ‘Barracuda’ for some fun in the sun.

Now, for a film about prehistoric fish that escape their underwater cave after an earthquake and eat anything that has the misfortune of crossing their path, Piranha 3D is surprisingly well written.

Of course it’s not going to win any awards but the characters aren’t (ahem) one-dimensional and even the least obvious characters are fleshed out and believable.

Being shot on film and then post-processed for 3D, the effect is one of, if not the best post-3D films that I’ve seen. I was surprised to learn that it was post-3D and if other films did it this well, there wouldn’t be the backlash that post 3-D is experiencing at the moment.

In this day and age of political correctness, it’s really refreshing to see a film that gives the P.C. puritans the middle finger. This is a B-movie and what has been missing from a lot of films as of late is a true sense of fun. Alexandre Aja has such directed a film with a keen eye for detail and really knows where to point a camera.

If you’re a film buff then you’ll be happy with the references to other movies that literally had me in stitches for the whole movie.

The cast is excellent throughout and there are a few surprises, most noticeably Kelly Brook, who really delivers a solid performance. You seem to really care about the characters and they aren’t just there to die in a piranha-toothed frenzy.

For those of you out there that donesn’t give a hoot about shot composition or the mis-en-scene of the framing then this bit is for you – I’ve never seen so much nudity on screen in a cinema. The film would send the most liberally minded person to the confessional and the amount of gore that assaults you is so over the top that you can’t help but laugh and enjoy the ride.

The effects are noteworthy and are provided in most part by KNB FX. If their name rings a bell its because they are pretty much carrying the flag for horror film practical effects. The blend of practical and CGI effects is fantastic and it’s great to see both schools of film making complimenting each other and not a jarring mess.

Go and see this film. It is literally the best fun you’ll have in the cinema this year.

I give it 4 1/2 out of 5.

PIRANHA 3D is playing in cinemas everywhere

 

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