Megashark vs. Giant Octopus (2009)

Director: Jack Perez
Starring: Deborah Gibson, Lorenzo Lamas, Vic Chao, Jonathan Nation, Sean Lawlor

SYNOPSIS

Following the test of a top secret military weapon under the ocean, a whale is found with gigantic bite marks on its body. Meanwhile, a Japanese facility is attack by something monstrous. Scientists are shocked to discover that not only has a prehistoric Megaladon shark appeared but also a giant octopus.

REVIEW

This is a classic example of a movie that looked good on paper, but falls very short of any expectations. It's produced by The Asylum, a company that specialises in direct-to-DVD knock-offs of big budget Hollywood movies (such as I Am Omega or Transmorphers). For this movie, they seemed to be heading in the right direction - a cheesy concept, a few nutty ideas that low-rent effects would struggle to completely ruin and a couple of "names" (90s direct-to-video star Lamas and 80s pop star Gibson) to justify a couple of extra bucks. Unfortunately, they completely fail to capitalise on the concept.

The problem become apparent during the opening sequence, where Gibson is a research scientist studying marine life under the Arctic ice while a military helicopter prepares to unleash a sonic weapon. The scene goes on way too long, causing a couple of reasonable effects shots to be blatantly repeated several time. It also ends in the dumbest way possible, with the helicopter above water being cause to crash and explode, while the underwater character right near the weapon escape unharmed.

From here, we're in dialogue-heavy cliché land. Gibson loses her job after being too inquisitive, then meets up with her old professor who wants to help her uncover the truth. They recruit a Japanese scientist 9who gets romantically involved with Gibson), go through the motions of a few doomed plans to stop the creatures, battle again moronic military leaders, then save the day. It's all very silly and sleep-inducing.

Fortunately, there's a few out-there sequences that help save the movie to some degree, although nearly all of them are mishandled. The best of these it probably to sequence where the shark jumps out of the water and attacks a passenger jet in mid air! It sounds better than it really is, due to some shoddy editing and ropey effects. In fact, the editing is the biggest problem here. Dialogue scenes are way too long and poorly paced, while any hint of action is accompanied by a completely mistimed and inappropriate use of white flashes. Used sparingly and correctly, these can be effective, but here they're totally wrong.

The movie has been successful, however, and there's a sequel currently filming according to IMDB named Mega Python vs. Gatoroid. Weirdly, Gibson is going to be joined by fellow 80s pop icon Tiffany, while there's a fairly accomplished director behind the camera this time - Mary Lambert, who managed to make the decent Pet Sematary movies before descending into direct-to-DVD hell. I doubt the budget will be there for her, but hopefully she'll rescue some dignity for a strong idea gone bad.

4 / 10