In 1975, Jaws made moviegoers afraid to go in the water. Then, in 2013, Sharknado came along and probably forced a small percentage of people to fear the outdoors as a whole, lest a rogue shark actually slaughter them on their front lawn.
In the time since, four sequels have followed suit, each upping the level of absurdity and featuring a boatload of unexpected celebrity cameos, with everyone from weatherman extraordinaire Al Roker to Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor appearing in small roles. And when factoring all that in, it leaves little room to wonder why this franchise has become the crown jewel in the SyFy network’s proud line of original B-movies, the likes of which have included gems such as Sharktopus and the timeless classic Mega Croc vs. Gatoroid.
Previously, I’d said that the sequels would keep on coming as long as people kept tuning in, but considering that the next entry is titled The Last Sharknado: It’s About Time, well, one would assume that the franchise is hanging up its chainsaw at long last. I mean, there’s nothing that says “definitive finale” about the new trailer embedded at the top of this article to me, but 30 seconds of footage is obviously not reflective of the movie’s closing moments.
Personally, I thought the series had grown too outlandish for its own good, but it’s probably safe to say there are enough people out there who really dig how this line of films dialed the goofiness up to 11. If anything, this latest teaser shows that the cast and crew may even achieve heights greater than that, so perhaps they’ll go out with the biggest of bangs.
As the title implies, the element of time travel will be utilized here, so it should be intriguing to see how that tactic will be pulled off. My hope is that Fin Shepard and his cohorts don’t somehow rewrite history so that sharks now govern the Earth, but you never really know what to expect from this brand.
The Last Sharknado: It’s About Time premieres on SyFy on August 19th.