Making a great B-movie takes more than fake blood and breasts.
The brains behind “Piranha 3D” figured this out a while back, but they threw in copious amounts of both – just in case.
The new film, an update on director Joe Dante’s 1978 film of the same name, provides the kind of thrill ride we expected from previous summer entries.
Better late than never, even if you have to pony up extra for the “privilege” of seeing it in 3-D.
Elisabeth Shue leads the way as Julie, the no-nonsense sheriff of Lake Victoria, an Arizona town in the grip of Spring Break madness.
She’s called in to uncover the mystery of a missing local – Richard Dreyfuss campily reprising his role from “Jaws.”
Meanwhile, Julie’s teen son Jake (Steven McQueen) skips out on his babysitting duties to play tour guide to a Girls Gone Wild-style host (Jerry O’Connell) shooting any and every bikini-clad bombshell in sight.
Good luck with that. The town teems with gorgeous women, and the film takes unabashed delight in ripping off their bikini top at the slightest provocation.
But a recent seismic shift uncovered a “lake below a lake” filled with prehistoric piranha just waiting to be released.
“Piranha 3D” sometimes forgets it’s a cheesy horror romp and delivers thrills most genre films would kill to duplicate. The film starts at a leisurely pace, letting us get to know the characters a little before mayhem breaks out.
Once the fish start biting, the movie switches into high gear and it never bothers to downshift.
Director Alexandre Aja, a French director whose credits include “High Tension” and the credible “Hills Have Eyes” remake, sustains a state of controlled frenzy that’s as enjoyable as any Summer 2010 film before it.
“Piranha 3D” shrewdly fleshes out the cast with actors who are both instantly recognizable and – more important – credible. Shue anchors the rare dramatic moments, but when law and order is required she acts with a ferocity that would leave Ripley from “Aliens” impressed.
O’Connell is having a ball playing a slimeball’s slimeball, while young McQueen is a charmer-in-waiting. And Christopher Lloyd is barely on screen at all, but he connects as the scientist who helps fill in the narrative blanks regarding the creatures’ origin.
And let’s not forget Adam Scott, the “Vicious Kind” actor who resonates despite a thoroughly forgettable part.
The 3D elements routinely leap off the screen in kitschy fashion, but the context makes the effects almost quaint.
We could do without the 3D vomit, though.
None of the above will matter for some movie goers. It’s a genre film to its core, and those offended by boobies and shredded body parts should head straight for the matinee showing of “Eat Pray Love.”
For the rest of us, “Piranha 3D” belongs with “Tremors” and “Slither,” two other campy horror films that found the perfect balance between black humor and shocks.
(Photo: Ving Rhames battles a school of voracious fish in “Piranha 3D.” Dimension Films)
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I’m hearing surprisingly strong word of mouth about this, though I’m wondering to what purpose the 3D was if hardly anyone’s gonna see it in theaters.
I read an interview with the director where the interviewer mentioned that Richard Dreyfuss listed “Money” as his one word answer to why he did the film. Aja got somewhat defensive, as if the dream of an Oscar-winning actor nearing Social Security age was to do a cameo in a movie about 3D breasts and killer fish.
Great anecdote from Dreyfuss. Yeah, he’s got a tiny scene and it’s hardly ‘art’ in any sense of the word. Kudos for his honesty.
I think many of today’s film critics do a good job judging a film on its merits – and category. “Piranha 3D” is junk food, period. But it’s tasty as all heck.
Too bad they didn’t put any piranha in “Eat Pray Love”. I would have paid to see that.
I interviewed Dreyfuss back in March. He didn’t do it for the money for himself. In fact, the $50,000 check that the producer wrote him went toward his initiative on civics. Dreyfuss is doing just fine.