The Last Sharknado: It's About Time (2018) by Anthony C. Ferrante


Director: Anthony C. Ferrante
Year: 2018
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Sharks

Plot:
Sent back into the past, the group of heroes learn they need to stop the creation of sharknados which can be stopped in various points in time only to continually cause more chaos and havoc as they slip through the ages finally forcing them to the end of their journey against the sharks.

Review:

This was another stellar addition to the franchise. One of the better features of this one is the fact that there's a great deal of fun to be had with the time-travel storyline. This is an incredibly novel idea which gives this a rather creative starting point in going through various points throughout history as they stop by in different periods to battle the creatures. Rather than stopping for long periods of time and intervene at that period, this one skips to various periods including prehistoric times, the American revolution, the Wild West, a rocking musical beach party in the 1950s which offers the kind laughs usually featured in these efforts and much more here which all offers so much different kinds of fun that's usually apparent in such efforts here.

That leads into the main positive aspect of the film which is the wild and crazy shark action featured throughout. With the time-period offering plenty of various unique settings to launch shark attacks, the film gets plenty of mileage out of the sharks attacking in the prehistoric sequences as well as the involvement of the dinosaurs before the time-jump to the Knights of Camelot age. The influx of fantasy-tinged sorcery there has a few new takes on the different need for sharks to be involved here, and the action here is as gloriously over-the-top as the following sequences in the American Revolution and the Wild West. These all give the film the kind of wild, chaotic action prominent here as well as giving the film a strong pace without much letup between scenes.


The other big plus here is the shockingly well-done sense of sentimentality featured throughout. The running franchise storyline about trying to undo the damage done to the family of the one characters is quite appropriately played out here since this one manages to include the sequence about the actual events that transpired before the main date starts that becomes quite emotional as well as bringing about the rationale that’s been featured throughout here. That’s been brought up quite often and it gives quite a fine emotional resonance that continues on into the finale. This is another quite emotional sequence that wraps up the series with a fine closing that effectively captures the end of an era as well as getting some meaningful closure in the series. These here are the film’s positive aspects.

There isn’t a whole lot really wrong here, but the main issue present is the scenes where it travels to the future world which doesn’t mesh with anything present in the franchise. The high-concept science fiction world, from the concept of the clones to the flying shark robots and the different items around which come off terrible and somewhat at odds with the series of action scenes normally present in the series. That carries into the recreation of the first one’s opening and bringing about the final resolution of the series in order to stop the concept from happening as this just doesn’t feel like the kind of setup that usually works itself out in the series. Along with the usually suspect CGI that’s always apparent here, these hold it back for the most part.


Overview: ****/5
While not up to par or the craziness of the other entries in the series, this one offers a fun and enjoyable enough ending to the franchise that it serves as a fine end to the series. Give this a shot if you’ve a real fan of the series or have a special appreciation for cheesy creature features like this one, while those that aren’t as big on the series won’t be swayed by this one into looking into the others in the series.

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