There is something to be said about a TV movie like Sharknado. Its a film that is meant to be enjoyed in all its silliness, and dwelling on the technical shortcomings of this SyFy production is definitely not the way to do it. Luckily, after last year’s surprise hit Sharknado (which I loved by the way, don’t judge me), the audience has learned what to expect from the sequel and were able to embrace it for what it was. I for one, waited for months for it to come out and was glad that it was aired simultaneously with the US so I didn’t have to wait around longer. Yay, SyFy.

Finn (Ian Ziering) and April (Tara Reid), who are trying to work through their relationship, head out for New York for a book signing (The two have collaborated on a book about their Sharknado experience in LA), and a visit to Finn’s sister and her family. But even before they reach the Big Apple, disaster strikes when their plane ends up in the middle of a giant Sharknado, where one of April’s hand becomes a casualty. With an idea of what to come, Finn tries to save his family and the city from hailstorm of sharp toothed menaces to follow and rallies everyone to work together to take back their city.

For all intents and purposes, the Sharknado sequel was just as silly and ridiculous as the first one, but because audiences already know what they’re in for, the idea of a Sharknado hitting New York was not as farfetched as it was in the first one. Besides, the scriptwriters made sure that they included a lot of technical weather jargon about the Sharknado phenomenon to make it seem like there was a scientific basis behind it. But the fact that it happened just as Finn and April were headed to NY, was kind of ooookay, so this is how this one is going to play out. I shouldn’t be surprised because of the amount of crap that the movie tried to get away with, really.

Because of the success of the first movie, The Asylum seemed to be greenlighted with a bigger budget, well, perhaps bigger than the $1-$2 million they had to work with in the first one. It was awesome to see how the filmmakers chose to utilize the money —  a.) the CGI was loads better than the first one, especially for the bigger shark close ups, and b) hiring more extras and disposable characters to up the body count, including Kelly Osbourne and Perez Hilton (the dude on the subway). I’m sure he blogged about it before Sharnakdo’s release. There were also guest appearances for Matt Lauer, Wil Wheaton, Kurt Angle and loads more celebrities who have gotten in on the joke that is the movie and joined the fun.

In truth, what I really loved about the movie was its consistency about its inconsistencies. True, there were less technical issues about the editing this time around but they were there, out in the open, with not even an attempt to disguise them. Still, audiences knew what they were getting into when they tuned and just didn’t care because they’re enjoying the show too much. There was a bit of a push for a romance between Ian Ziering and Tara Reid but given the state of Reid’s cosmetic surgery, it was just gross to even think about it. Sorry. In fairness, it gave me a kick to listen to Tara scream emotionlessly. It was like listening to bad porn, and it was hilarious. Ian, as with the first movie, seemed to embrace his role as the film’s hero and while most of his ideas were stupid and dangerous, you have to give the guy credit for acting like he would do the same thing in real life. On the other hand, Mark McGrath in a sweater and doing almost nothing was just so wrong. My teen years were filled with Sugar Ray’s music and this totally did not match his cool rocker image in the 90s. Vivica Fox seemed to lay on the tough black girl stereotype a bit too much but hey, this is a made for TV movie so I’ll give her a pass and applaud her for getting into the spirit of things.

Actually, the film got more silly as it progressed but what made it work was its ability to treat the whole thing as a joke and stick with it. There are so many things that are wrong with this movie but like the original, it managed to reach the level of “its so bad its good.” It was a load of fun, that’s for sure. More sequels? Bring it on!