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Released by: Anchor Bay Entertainment
Released on: August 28, 2012.
Director: John Sheppird
Cast: Jack Scalia, Paul Sorvino
Year: 2012
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The Movie:
The brains at SyFy have decided with this flick that instead of a shark with an octopus body or a cgi-dinosaur fish they'd give us a JAWS/JERSEY SHORE parody. Sound awful? Yes, but...
Its kind of fun.
Its the 4th of July weekend on the Jersey shore and uber- Guido "The Complication" (Jeremy Luc) is partying with his pals Donnie (Joey Russo) and Paulie (Daniel Booko). All is not well for TC (as his buds call him) since he is a heartbroken man. His big-haired girlfriend Nookie has just dumped our hero - seems he wasn't ready to give her his neck chain, which in the Guido world is a man's truest and most powerful way to show his everlasting love for a woman. Of course, despite the party hearty excoriations of his crew TC is really upset. Seems he may have made a mistake and Nookie was "the one".
In addition to all this we have a despicable crew of young yacht club republicans at the shore who, in true WEST SIDE STORY form, are making trouble for our dudes and dudettes from the glow-in--the-dark state. After an altercation at a dance bar, TC's dad (the awesome Jack Scalia of FEAR CITY and TV's DALLAS fame) is forced to discipline his errant son and the gang. After the fight one of their friends disappears after trying to escape some of the Richie Riches trying to deliver a beat-down and jumps off a pier... to be promptly gobbled by a cgi shark with poreless skin and fake digital eyes! Can our proud Italian American crew get revenge for their fallen pal? Can they hold back the horde of cgi sharks? Will TC get Nooki back and repair his troubled relationship with his dad the cop? Oh and what about those corrupt local politicos who caused this whole mess with their stupid underwater drilling? Didn't these idiots learn ANYTHING from Chief Brody and Spielberg?
Lets just cut to the chase, OK? This kind of thing survives as a film on whether or not it has an amusing script, fun performances and goofy cgi. JERSEY SHORE SHARK ATTACK has all 3. I'm guilty of watching just enough of reality tv show JERSEY SHORE to tell you that this is a pretty dead on parody from Snooki/Nooki to The Complication/The Situation. It also does a nice job of mocking some bad mob movie stereotypes. When Vinny "the something" is mulched to a bloody pulp by one of the sharks and the torso found by TC, Scalia asks his son if it was Vinny "The Chin", or Vinnie "Bones" and they both riff on mobster nicknames while trying to figure it out. Add to this that the actors look like they are having fun and its a winning proposition. Scalia is a pleasure as the honest cop, the great William "Die Hard 2" Atherton and stalwart Paul Sorvino as local political sleaze are an added treat. Melissa Molinaro is cute and starred in a movie with the great Dolph Lundgren so respect is due there. Finally we have Joey Fatone doing a highly credible job of playing himself and some extra wet blood showers during the shark attacks. And when cgi is this bad it just loops right around and becomes good people.
I laughed out loud quite a few times and had a good time with JERSEY SHORE SHARK ATTACK. You might too.
Video/Audio/Extras:
JERSEY SHORE SHARK ATTACK, despite its endearingly weak fx has a strong transfer. Anchor Bay's MPEG-4 AVC, 1080p 1.78:1 presentation looks good. Colors are vibrant, and detail (especially on faces and hair) is excellent and black levels deep and rich. This is what a recent film shot in HD is supposed to look like.
The Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack is excellent with rich bottom end. There is a fair amount of dance music in the film, so the solid audio track here is a real boon. Dialog always sound clear and the foley and effects work is almost flawless. Those with decent audio setups for their home theaters will be pleased with the good work done here.
Two of the executive producers (Barry Barnholtz and Jeffrey Schenck), the main producer (Peter Sullivan) and Director John Shepphird contribute a breezy and fun commentary track about their creation. There is also a brief 5 minute promo EPK for the film with some of the actors and others behind the film discussing the project. Pretty shallow but slightly interesting.
The Final Word:
Dumb but fun and genuinely amusing, JERSEY SHORE SHARK ATTACK gets a firm thumbs up. The cgi is horrendous but its the "human factor" that shines through in this one. The guidos are lovable and the parody elements surprisingly dead-on. Check this one out.
Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!
