I've been waiting for Piranha 3D for months now and finally I got to see it in not so glorious 3D, but whatever, it's awesome! It kinda made me sad boyfriend and I made up 67% of the audience though (2 pm showing on a Tuesday).I've never in my life been more excited to see Richard Dreyfuss. It was a pretty cool cameo. I think they could've expanded it a bit more, but overall I enjoyed his brief appearance. Same kinda goes for Christopher Lloyd. I would've liked to have seen his character be more involved in the story. I actually forgot about him until he popped up again. It was good seeing him on the big screen. I always loved him in the Back to the Future movies. I think both Dreyfuss and Lloyd's appearances are nice shout outs for movie buffs. The younger generation probably has no clue who they are (which is sad btw, cause we live in a world where the Jersey Shore losers are more famous).
The "main" cast is enjoyable as well, but I have to use air quotes, because there almost isn't a main cast. Elisabeth Shue gets first billing, but I think Jerry O'Connell and even Steven R. McQueen (who could easily play Nicholas D'Agosto's brother in something sometime) have more screentime. Adam Scott is a good actor and a gorgeous man, but when I think about the movie, he didn't have that much to do. Shame. He has a good screen presence and his role could have been more heroic. Ving Rhames is totally wasted. He's barely in the movie and I was really hoping I would see him kick lots of piranha ass. I mean, he does kick piranha ass, but they could have expanded his role. It's VING RHAMES. HE'S AWESOME SO IF YOU CAST HIM, USE HIM. You'd think it wouldn't be that hard.
I like the movie, but there is a serious lack of characterization. The only somewhat developed characters are played by McQueen, O'Connell and Kelly Brook. While I don't care for McQueen (Nick D'Agosto's name kept popping in my head every time I saw him), Jerry O. rocked his role as sleazy Wild Wild Girls director. He was great! I have mad love for that guy, he always manages to entertain. I didn't expect to like Brook's character, simply thinking she was there for the T&A, but she has a very likeable quality about her and her character was a nice girl. Jessica Szohr, who I guess we were supposed to root for(?), had nothing to work with and I didn't find her likeable at all.
Dina Meyer and Desperate Housewives' Ricardo Chavira also pop up in pointless roles. Disappointing! I know it's supposed to be a fun, cheesy, gory flick, but if you cast these people, at least give them something to work with. Eli Roth's cameo was entertaining though.
The story is good enough for what the film is supposed to be. There's not much suspense, but that's okay. The make up and special effects were very well done. The carnage was very gory; I had to look away at times. Props for the make up guys!
I wasn't too crazy about the 3D conversion. If the movie was intended as a 3D release, why shoot it in 2D and then convert it? The conversion didn't always work and it took me out the film a bit. Overall though, I have to say I would've prefered the movie to be in 2D. I think they could've done more with the 3D gimmick, but they didn't, which is a shame because it fits a film like this perfectly as it doesn't take itself seriously in the first place. Now the 3D thing feels like an after thought and I'm kinda tired of movies that are in 3D while it add nothing to the experience. Like I said, I could've worked for Piranha 3D, but they didn't make the most of it.
Now it looks like I'm being all negative, but I'm just being critical. Piranha 3D delivers: it's an entertaining flick, it doesn't take itself seriously, there are piranhas and there are boobs. Really, it's a great summer popcorn flick and you should go see it right now! A 4/5.
P.S. I keep thinking about writing something about Alexandre Aja, but I'm not sure what.
