- Directed by Kevin O’Neill
- Written by Matt Yamashita
- Stars Rib Hillis, Robert Carradine, Katie Savoy
- Run Time: 1 Hour, 28 Minutes
- Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9sGF7aYTYc
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
Despite the definitive death of Sharktopus in the first movie, they find a way to make a sequel. This one is a step above the first one, with slightly better everything and clearly a bigger budget. The CGI is still blatantly CGI, looking cartoonish at times, but it gets the story told. What’s better than one giant genetically modified creature? Two of them! We found this entertaining.
Spoilery Synopsis
We get some flashbacks to the previous film’s best kills. As the Sharktopus’s head explodes, we see an egg sac float away from the body…
We cut to a fishing boat, where Lorena pulls up the egg sac. She cuts it open, and there’s a tiny Sharktopus inside.
Elsewhere, Dr. Rico Symes and his team have developed a flying monster called a Pteracuda, a cross between a barracuda and a pterodactyl. The government was afraid of it, so he paid for it and built it himself. As he brags about how much it’s going to be worth, the creature escapes and refuses to come back to base. Then it does come back, but just to kill one of the technicians.
Hamilton, Rico’s head of security, goes after the monster in a helicopter, and it turns out to be bulletproof. Rico says the control devices are still working just fine, but someone else is in control. When the copter crashes into the ocean, they learn that the monster can swim as well as fly.
We cut to Mundo Del Mar, an ocean resort, which advertises, “Coming soon: Sharktopus.” They reveal their new attraction, which Lorena is training. The baby creature has gotten a lot bigger, but the resort owner has been sedating the giant shark-monster to keep it under control. She talks to Rick about the creature’s aggressive tendencies. She demonstrates how smart the Sharktopus is.
Some guests complain to the manager that they aren’t able to see the advertised Sharktopus, so he takes them to see it. That goes badly.
Hamilton makes it back to Rico, who explains that whoever was controlling the Pteracuda has stopped. They watch the tourists’ footage of the Sharktopus on the news, and Rico knows all about the S-11 Project. He suddenly gets an idea– he wants to “hire” Sharktopus to fight the Pteracuda. Hamilton injects the Sharktopus with a mind-controlling device, and Lorena freaks out.
A group of wreck divers go down with their scuba gear. They don’t know that both giant monsters are nearby. The two soon start fighting, and it’s an inconclusive battle.
Lorena calls Rick, the head lifeguard, to shut down the beach before more people are killed.
We cut to Conan O’Brien, on the beach in a full suit and ascot. He hears about the Sharktopus and laughs at it. He does the “do you know who I am” thing until the Sharktopus bites his head off.
On the beach, a kid plays with a Sharktopus kite until the Pteracuda attacks, causing mayhem on the beach. Meanwhile, Vladimir, the Russian agent who stole the Pteracuda’s controls gets things working again and attacks an airplane.
Soon, Pteracuda and Sharktopus encounter each other again, and Sharktopus gets his control collar bitten off; now there are two monsters on the loose. Rico is looking for someone to blame this all on, so he kidnaps Lorena. Maybe she can get Sharktopus to behave?
Lorena tells Rick about the monsters, and he’s almost immediately beheaded. She figures that Sharktopus is headed for the canals that go right through town to the aquarium. Rico says that Vladimir has ordered Pteracuda to attack a nuclear power plant to make it melt down.
Lorena and Hamilton track down Vladimir somehow and regain control of the Pteracuda. A new report announces that Rico is wanted for questioning in the whole ordeal. Vladimir makes a run for it, so they all head outside to pursue him. The Pteracuda gets him first.
The Sharktopus comes for Lorena before fighting his winged adversary again. Hamilton uses Rico as bait for the creatures, and soon, Pteracuda comes for him. The two creatures pull him apart.
Lorena reads Rico’s notes and figures out that Pteracuda is starving and has to eat constantly to stay alive. She thinks they can use that to lure it in and kill it– with a disco ball. Lorena falls overboard and Sharktopus comes to her rescue to fight the Pteracuda. Meanwhile, Hamilton shoots the Pteracuda with his spear gun.
Hamilton and Lorena speed off in their boat as the explosives in the harpoon go off, killing both monstrosities. No, we see that Sharktopus has survived!
Commentary
The dialogue and acting are still campy, but they’re also miles ahead of the first film. It obviously had a much higher budget due to the popularity of the first film. Then again, it’s got people playing volleyball with Conan O’Brien’s head, so it’s probably not meant to be taken too seriously.
The recent Godzilla movies show us what good CGI can mean for a monster vs monster film. This is not that film. The creatures are a half-step above cartoons, but the visual quality isn’t the point. It’s still hokey and dumb, but better made than the first one.