It Came From the Bargain Bin (Piranha)

Welcome to another installment of “It Came from the Bargain Bin”. I have come across this week’s selection a number of times and I have thrown it back in the water for a number of reasons. One reason being, that the cover art presented itself as a rip off of the classic “Jaws” which is a favorite of mine and I just could not view a movie that wouldn’t at least present itself with an original cover art work. The other reason for my reluctance to view this film was that I was looking for a movie that portrayed a subject that was not seemingly overdone. Admittedly, I broke down this week deciding that, maybe this feature has more to offer than the cover art and the unoriginal subject matter that it seems to portray. Not to mention, I am a bit of a sucker for films that, even weakly, come across as cult-like films. Okay, so I haven’t necessarily sucked you in by the presentation, but if you enjoy films that portray acts of violence provided by acts of nature than stick around and this movie may be right up your alley. So, jump in the water and look out below, this week’s selection from The Bin is the 2010 film………….”Piranha”!

Piranha

Starring: Elisabeth Shue, Jerry O’Connell and Steven R. McQueen

Written By: Pete Goldfinger and Josh Stolberg

Directed By: Alexandre Aja

Reviewed by: Joe Sikes

It’s Spring Break and a swarm of testosterone and hormone laden college students have taken over a town on Lake Victoria. Like many Spring Break gatherings, there is no shortage of alcohol influenced debauchery and irresponsible madness. In the middle of all this chaos is “Jake Forester”(Steven R. Mcqueen, no relation to film legend Steve Mcqueen), son of Sheriff Julie Forester (Elisabeth Shue).

Jake is not like the rest of the tourists. Jake is a resident of the small town and has to suffer through the frat house minded college boys that impose their will upon everything that stands in their way of a riotous time. Although Jake can’t help himself but be intrigued by this “Sodom and Gomorrah” mentality and decides to assist “Derrick Jones” ( Derrick Jones) on an excursion  laced with T & A to help film a “Girls Gone Wild” type feature. Jake makes this ill-advised decision against the wishes of his mother, who expects Jake to look after his younger siblings.

Little does Jake realize that, just a short time earlier, a fisherman (Richard Dreyfuss) was a victim of a subterranean earthquake that opened up another world underneath the floor of Lake Victoria, releasing thousands of prehistoric piranha that will soon feast upon anybody who swims in their way.

I have to admit that I was very reluctant to view this movie, but at the same time, “The Bargain Bin” sometimes forces you to view films that you would not necessarily choose to watch due to their not being many attractive fish in the water. Although. this movie was somewhat entertaining, and in the end, I was not completely disappointed in this selection. Now, Piranha, as expected, was not very original ; really, this movie was basically a 21st Century remake of “Jaws”. When and if you see this movie you will quickly see that the recipe for Piranha is, take Jaws, subtract the great character acting, originality and sheer terror and add more nudity and ultra-violence, this = 2010′s Piranha. Now, that saying, I still give Piranha 2 Guys for the entertainment value of the film and the movies honesty in pretty much admitting with a touch of humor that it consciously stole from the classic Jaws. For example, in the first scene of Piranha you will find Richard Dreyfuss fishing while singing along with “Show Me the Way to Go Home” which was sung by “Brody” (Roy Scheider), “Quint” (Robert Shaw) and himself, “Hooper” (Richard Dreyfuss) while on their famous hunt for the infamous Great White. A sense of humor does help this movie and that, in the end, stands for something. Give 2010′s Piranha, which by the way was a 1978 movie as well, which I will have to see now and view, and let me know what you think. See you next week when I crawl back out of The Bargain Bin.

Tagged as: 3guys1movie, Elizebeth Shue, Horror, Piranha, Piranha the movie, Pirhanna