I didn't expect much going in to the Piranha remake despite having heard generally positive reviews, so I was pleasantly surprised. The most surprising element of the movie is how incredible Elisabeth Shue looks! In a movie dedicated to gratuitous T&A, she stands out without ever showing more than an elbow.
The story is largely the same as the original and plays out in a similar fashion. The differences are minor, such as the campful of children being replaced by a musicfest of 20-somethings, but the changes work well for the movie. There is enough minor action along the way to keep your interest and plenty of naked girls doing naked girl things and when it hits, Piranha really pays off. The acting is mostly tongue-in-cheek but it isn't bad at all and strikes that intentional B-movie note more often than it misses.
The drawbacks are that it was a 3D movie, so there are lots of scenes and effects that take advantage of that. These may work if you have 3D TV or whatever but for the rest of us, they're just annoying. Piranha is intentionally cheesy so it's hard to be critical of it on that front, but when it's cheesy, Piranha turns the dial up all the way and breaks it off. The male lead was totally miscast and his scenes lumber even if they're only a few seconds long.
Overall, a great flick.
© C Harris Lynn, 2012
A rambling melange of pop-culture.
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