Incorrectly thought by many to be the picture that started James Cameron's directorial career, considering that much of the film was shot by the executive producer at helm with then-young artist fired within couple weeks into production, Piranha II: The Spawning is a B-movie schlock that's campy, ridiculous & terrible but it is surprisingly not the disaster that I went in expecting.
The sequel to Joe Dante's Piranha, the film is an obvious attempt to cash-in on the success of the original and doesn't even do the bare minimum to deliver the fun, campy fare it could have. Nevertheless, there are few technical elements that do manage to float in this sinking mess as evident in the gore effects on display, score that slowly finds its footing & occasional well-built suspense.
Cameron may have been on the crew for only couple weeks but the underwater sequences do carry his signature & fascination with shipwrecks. Characters are bland, dialogues are lame & flying piranhas are a hoot yet with lesser character interplay & more B-movie thrills, there was an opportunity here to make a silly yet enjoyable feature. All it needed to do was commit but it holds back instead.
Overall, Piranha II: The Spawning is not far from the eyesore that I was anticipating but the film has the so-bad-it's-good quality that makes the ride somewhat amusing. The practical effects also have an old-fashioned charm to them even if the shoddy script, dull characters & pathetic direction is present throughout its runtime. And of all the things it has in store, Lance Henriksen being part of the cast is a legit surprise.
The sequel to Joe Dante's Piranha, the film is an obvious attempt to cash-in on the success of the original and doesn't even do the bare minimum to deliver the fun, campy fare it could have. Nevertheless, there are few technical elements that do manage to float in this sinking mess as evident in the gore effects on display, score that slowly finds its footing & occasional well-built suspense.
Cameron may have been on the crew for only couple weeks but the underwater sequences do carry his signature & fascination with shipwrecks. Characters are bland, dialogues are lame & flying piranhas are a hoot yet with lesser character interplay & more B-movie thrills, there was an opportunity here to make a silly yet enjoyable feature. All it needed to do was commit but it holds back instead.
Overall, Piranha II: The Spawning is not far from the eyesore that I was anticipating but the film has the so-bad-it's-good quality that makes the ride somewhat amusing. The practical effects also have an old-fashioned charm to them even if the shoddy script, dull characters & pathetic direction is present throughout its runtime. And of all the things it has in store, Lance Henriksen being part of the cast is a legit surprise.