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Movie: Piranha 3DD Year: 2012 Studio: Dimension Films – The Weinstein Company Director: John Gulager Stars: Danielle Panabaker, Matt Bush, David Koechner Language: English Length: 83 Minutes Sub-Genre: Animals, Horror/Comedy

Plot: There’s blood in the water when a hungry pack of piranhas set their sights on scoring tasty morsels from a bustling water park in this second installment of the popular 3D franchise. The all-star cast of potential victims includes David Hasselhoff, Christopher Lloyd, Gary Busey and Ving Rhames.

Review: I was not a huge fan of Piranha 3D, matter of fact, I came in with a generous rating of 5, middle boat if you will. Overt comedy and over-the-top scenarios is not my thing, so I wasn’t looking forward to this sequel as I expected the same, and that is exactly what I got with Piranha 3DD.

It’s not all bad here. There are some cameos; Gary Busey had a brief part and Christopher Lloyd comes back for a second time to play the crazy scientist who is the only one in the world that knows about these genetically mutated fish. David Hasselhoff of Knight Rider fame plays a small role as does Ving Rhames, who you thought was dead in the first one. He is wheelchair-ridden and legless due to the piranha chomping off his extremities, and he is now terrified of the water because of it.

The story shifts to another town where a new Water Park is opening. It might sound bizarre when you think how do piranha get into water rides in a theme park? But it all makes sense when the charismatic and crooked owner pumps water in from a nearby river, then all hell breaks loose on flume rides, pools and the like.

The 3D effects were dumbed down compared to the first one and generally very good. Actually, I liked the 3D in the first one, so I was perplexed as to why they didn’t go the same route with this one. Maybe the 3D haters didn’t want them overused, and they weren’t for the most part. There were still plenty of “in your face” thrills that will keep the 3D audience entertained.

On a positive note, the lead is played by Danielle Panabaker who I adore. She is a very talented actress and holds her own in horror movies. Danielle was the best thing about John Carpenter’s The Ward, and she also had roles in the Friday The 13th remake and The Crazies remake. The acting across the board was great, even though they had to play these goofy characters. Where the line was drawn was with David Hasselhoff. The Baywatch music theme played many times in the film, just to give it that added extra cheese factor I loathe.

Piranha 3DD is airing at limited theaters across the world, but a good thing is that you can stream the movie right now on Facebook or YouTube for a small fee, compared to what theaters are charging. If you liked the first one, Piranha 3DD will entertain you, there are boobs galore, hot women and nonsensical scenarios as in the original. I will be coming in with the same rating as the first, only for Danielle Panabaker. If it wasn’t for her, this would have been several notches below. So for my recommendation, give it an online stream for $6.99, it sure isn’t boring and there is plenty of eye-candy there to keep you chuckling and engaged. Was it scary…absolutely not.

Reviewer: BillChete Date: 06/05/2012 Rating: 5/10 Recommendation: VOD

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