Film Review: MEGA SHARK VS. MECHA SHARK (2014)

Mega sharks are the order of the day in the sci-fi film Mega Shark Vs. Mecha Shark (2014) where a prehistoric giant shark must battle a mechanized mecha shark for supremacy of the oceans.  Christopher Judge (of Stargate: SG-1) and Elizabeth Rohm (of Buffy the Vampire spin-off Angel) are husband and wife Jack and Rosie Turner, respectfully, who have created a deep sea mechanized shark with its own artificial intelligence.  They are in the middle of testing out their new toy when a prehistoric Megalodon trapped in a chunk of ice berg suddenly comes back to life.  It is up to Jack and Rosie and their Mecha Shark to take down the mega shark before it kills any more people. 

Written by H. Perry Horton and Jose Prendes and directed by Emile Edwin Smith this is a film with exactly what you would expect from a film that premiered on the Syfy Channel.  Two television stars come together to defeat a ludicrous giant CGI creature that seems to be bullet proof and impervious to all weapons (at least until the end of the film).  There’s always some annoying child that needs to be saved after continuously making stupid decisions and one of the main stars always has an Achilles heel in their past that they always have to overcome before being able to save the day in the third act.  This is what describes this film and nine out of ten of every Syfy Channel film (the tenth film is always that diamond in the rough that actually has some bit of originality that separates it from the rest of the heard).

If you like giant CGI shark films and are a fan of Judge then you might find a few moments entertaining in the film.  The CGI sharks (both the Mega and Mecha) both look horrible) but Judge actually does a better than expected job in this film.  He’s always been a dependable actor and he never phones it in.  The same cannot be said for Rohm who seems completely out of place in this film.  She has no chemistry with Judge which makes watching her on screen seem like a chore.  I generally like Rohm (who did a fantastic job while in the Angel television series and a brief stint on Law & Order) but this is probably a film in which she looked down upon.

This being said, there is still a lot of action to be had in between the saving annoying children and Rohm’s vacant performance and if all you want to see is a mega shark battling a mecha shark then this film has everything.