Sharktopus (2010) by Declan O'Brien

Director: Declan O'Brien
Year: 2010
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Creature Feature

Plot:
Testing for a genetically-mutated shark/octopus creature goes awry on the battlefield and accidentally unleashes it upon the world, forcing a ragtag team of scientists and hunters to band together to destroy it before its rampage gets further out of control.

Review:

Overall, this one was a highly entertaining creature feature that had a lot to like. Like a lot of these Sci-Fi Channel entries, the best feature of this is the action-packed encounters, which are launched from the start here. The opening shark attack that leads into the ambush by the main creature is a great start that enables even more action within this one. Other scenes from the boat chase during the initial test that causes it to lose control, the big attack sequence along the beach involving it slaughtering the swimmers in the water and the beach-goers on land with its tentacles before launching the final encounter along the rocky outcrops, the underwater ambush along the coral reef which provides a fun escape and the later boat attacks which features the exciting gun-fight into the thrilling escape chase provides this one with a fully exciting pace full of rather thrilling series of action scenes.

This carries into the main series of action-packed encounters which feature even more spectacle and excitement from the failed chum- ambush which goes for suspense from the chummed waters and underwater stalking as well as the spectacular hotel sequence of it appearing unexpectedly and starting the panic there which leads into the fantastic attacks on the patrons before escaping. The finale at the marina comes off just as good with lots of action from both the creature and the containment attempts, which are highly inventive and exciting confrontations that really score well in here. Packed with plenty of gore here from the numerous kills throughout, a novel creature design, and plenty of enjoyable action bits amount to all the positives here against the few negatives.

One of the big parts here is the rather uniform and completely off-the-mark science to explain the creature's existence, which falls into the usual trap of containing nonsensical matters and utterly contrived pseudo-science to get the point across. There's very little here that makes sense, and the film just really falls short, asking for that reasoning to be accepted as truth. Likewise, there's the small facet of this one focusing so much on the short attacks here for the creature that the film's pacing does seem a little off in that there's a long section of time without much happening, only to then place a brief action bit right in the middle of it all. Though the big action scenes here are quite good, this one leans so heavily on the shorter end of these scenes that it holds it down. Finally, the fact that the CGI for the creature here does tend to lower this even more when it rarely matches the setting, is way too obvious about the nature of its origins, and changes perspectives from the surroundings quite frequently, which is wholly distracting. These are the film's few flaws.

Overview: ****.5/5
Still one of the finest entries in the genre from the channel, there's a lot to really enjoy with this one. Definitely give it a chance if you're a fan of these cheesy creature features, while those who don't appreciate this style of film should heed caution.