The Last Sharknado: It’s About Time

Well, after watching The Last Sharknado: It’s About Time, I’m FINALLY finished with the Sharknado franchise. The franchise starts off good but then goes straight down. However, I do like how they ended the series. With a definite ending, and no more sequels. Hopefully.

<img src="Sharknado6.jpg" alt="The Last Sharknado: It’s About Time.">

Photo Credit: The Asylum

Released: Aug 19, 2018

Runtime: 86 mins

Director: Anthony C. Ferrante

Writer: Thunder Levin, Scotty Mullen

Actors: Ian Ziering, Tara Reid, Cassandra Scerbo

PLOT

Fin has to go back in time to join family and friends to stop the first Sharknado and save humanity.

MY THOUGHTS

What can I say about the kills? Cheesy cgi with not a lot of blood. Besides, what is death? Most of the main cast have died at least once, other than Fin. The most terrifying is when Fin and Sky go too far into the future. The sharks are now metallic. But the most terrifying thing is that the only humans are actually April clones! Imagine hundreds of April’s running around. It was horrible!


Our primary returning cast is Ian Ziering, Tara Reid, and Cassandra Scerbo, as Fin, April, and Nova. We add in Judah Friedlander and Vivica A. Fox as Bryan and Sky. Judah Friedlander actually gets more screen time this go round. 

At the end we get a great final scene where most of the loved ones are at Fin’s bar. We see Matt (Chuck Hittinger), Claudia (Ryan Newman), Wilford (Gary Busey), May (Bo Derek), Martin (Mark McGrath), Gemini (Masiela Lusha), and even George (John Heard, but since he died shortly after the Sharknado 5, they used stock footage of him.) Poor Gil is back in April’s pregnant belly. But what I want to know is: where is Baz (Jaason Simmons)? He was Fin’s best friend in Sharknado, and yes he died, but so did George. I couldn’t find anything on why he didn’t return.

We start The Last Sharknado: It’s About Time where the previous movie left off. Gil and Fin arrive in ancient dinosaur times. However, Gil immediately disappears. He did leave a hologram message to Gil explaining you can only go backwards in time once. So Fin is alone in the past. Or is he? Just as he is about to lose cyborg April’s head, Nova shows up, followed by human April, and Bryan. Gil had traveled in time and rescued all three right before they were killed. They figure out that they must stop the very first sharknado to save the future earth.

Soon after the first sharknado forms and the team use the falling asteroids to dissipate the storm. It works but they are sent in time to the medieval times of Camelot instead of normal times. Everyone is fine except Bryan. He is now an African American woman. It seems that sometimes while time traveling, things can get a bit jumbled up.

They are soon captured by evil sorceress Morgana. Fortunately for the team Merlin is there to save them and tell them that Gil has been looking for them. Unfortunately, he takes off in another storm. The team tries to chase after him, but they first have to defeat the sharknado during this time. Fin is able to pull Excalibur from the stone, which turns out to be a sort of chainsaw sword and they are able to defeat the storm. They use the pilot wings that Gil gave Fin to time travel. They hope to return home, but this time it’s the Revolutionary War. 

This time, Bryan returns to his normal self and he saves the day by convincing George Washington and Alexander Hamilton to work together and use the cannons on the storm. They defeat the storm, but lose Gil again. This time Nova finds her ancestor and tries to give him a letter, warning her lineage not to go fishing the day her grandfather dies. Fin takes the letter from her, explaining that if her grandfather doesn’t die, she doesn’t become the ass kicking shark killer she is now and that it would affect the timeline. Nova doesn’t care, but Fin tears up the letter, throwing it on the ground.

As they are leaving, Bryan decides to stay during this time period. He doesn’t like the risk he has to take with each time jump. Plus, he’s a history teacher and he finally gets to live during the time period he studied. They say their goodbye’s and then time travel again. This time landing in the Wild West.

They land right in the middle of a gunfight between the sheriff and Billy the Kid. The girls stay hidden, but Fin is arrested and taken to jail. While in the jail, Fin realizes that Gil is in the jail cell next to him. Billy the Kid was supposed to rescue Gil, but Fin interrupted it. The sheriff takes Gil and says it’s his time for judgment. He was going to be hanged.

Nova and April plot to get Fin out, when Sky shows up and helps Fin escape. Gil had saved Sky from her death too! Sky has to save Gil, because if Fin and April do, Gil will stop looking for them and it would change the timeline. Gil escapes in another storm and the team, now including Sky, take a train and end up in the 1950’s.

They land at a beach party where a storm quickly appears. They get help from a young Ray and Gil (Fin’s parents). They defeat the storm, but Fin’s pilot wings are damaged. They use a capacitor that young Gil creates and leaves for them. Nova takes it, and is supposed to set it to the time of the first sharknado movie. But instead she sets it for the day her grandfather dies.

When Fin realizes what Nova does, they all get on her grandfather’s boat. Sharks start swarming the ship, causing Nova to turn the boat. She finally realizes that her doing this is the reason her grandfather dies. But Fin being Fin, decides that nobody should die so he saves young Nova and her grandfather. The cost of this is that April and Nova are thrown overboard and eaten by sharks. Not only that, but April’s head goes overboard as well.

Fin and Sky, despite hurting for their loss, decide to end this once and for all. Sky sets the capacitor to the correct time, but something goes terribly wrong. They end up in 20013! They look around and then see metallic sharks flying around. And then the most terrifying thing happens! Out of a building several April’s show up, taking them hostage!

We learn that April’s head is still alive under the water and spends countless centuries plotting revenge on Fin for not coming back for her. She then decided she wanted Fin with her. So she has perfected time travel so she has gone back in time to get April and the kids so she can make clones of them all. Then devices a trap so Fin would come to her so she can clone him as well.

Eventually the real April wakes up and fights the clone. Fin gets thrown into the time machine and shows up on the ship from the very beginning of the first Sharknado. There, one of the fishermen brings up cyborg April’s head from the ocean floor. She’s so happy that Fin came back for her. The sharknado shows up and April says they have to get her head into the vortex and hit her doomsday button. It will either reset time or destroy time. As they are heading for it, clone April shows up and tries to stop them from changing everything. Luckily enough, April’s head is able to save the day. Resetting everything.

The last scene is back at Fin’s bar. Everybody is back with a few changes. Fin and April are back together. Their kids are there, but April is currently pregnant. Martin is taking over the bar. Fin and April are retiring to Kansas. Nova actually likes sharks!  Gil, Fin’s dad, is in space. And they watch on tv that Sky is running for the presidency. 


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Overall, it’s a fitting end to this up and down series. I’m a fan of cheese but this was over the top. I did like how they ended the movie. I thought it was sweet after all of the death. But, I think I had more fun watching just to see who actually would be in the movies, more than the movie itself. If you are a completionist like myself, make sure you have some drinks before and during this movie. Otherwise, only diehard cheesy shark movie fans will like this. 

And now for your Forever Final Girl Exclusive…Did you know?:

  • The actress who plays Nova and the girl who plays young Nova are actually related. Young Nova is the niece of Cassandra Scerbo.

  • Charles Hittinger reprises his role as Ian Ziering and Tara Reid's son Matthew. He only appeared in the first Sharknado film, in 2013, but was replaced in Sharknado 4: The 4th Awakens three years later by actor Cody Linley.

  • Petunia (a stuffed opossum which makes an appearance in each movie) can be seen inside Fin's bar at the end of the movie.

  • When the group lands in the 1950s and runs into Fin's parents, Ray tells Fin "You look familiar. Did we go to high school together?" Fin responds "I think I'd remember that." Spelling and Ziering played friends Donna and Steve in Beverly Hills, 90210.

  • Back to the Future references:

    • In the Old West, there’s a sign on a building that says “Doc Brown’s”. A reference to Marty’s friend Doc Brown.

    • The Hummer that Gil takes Fin in at the end of Sharknado 5 flies like a DeLorean. Gil also tells Fin that to time travel he has to hit 88 mph just like Back to the Future.

    • The group uses a train to jump into the future which is in Back to the Future 3.

  • Cameos or appearances by:

    • Neil deGrasse Tyson as Merlin

    • Alaska as Morgana

    • Marina Sirtis (from Star Trek: Next Generation) as Winter

    • Leslie Jordan as Ben Franklin

    • Darrell Hammond as George Washington

    • Ben Stein as Alexander Hamilton

    • Dexter Holland (lead singer of the Offspring) as a British Captain

    • Dee Snider (lead singer of Twisted Sister) as the Sheriff

    • James Murray (from Impractical Jokers) as Eastwood

    • Gilbert Gottfried as Rand McDonald

    • Tori Spelling as Ray

    • Dean McDermott as Gil

    • Christopher Knight as Grandpa Clark

    • Bernie Kopell (from the Love Boat) as Boat Captain

    • La Toya Jackson as Cleopatra

    • Al Roker as himself

Have you seen the other Sharknado movies? Check out my other reviews here: Sharknado Franchise.

Let’s get into the rankings:

Kills/Blood/Gore: 2/5

Sex/Nudity: 0/5

Scare factor: 2/5 (I have to give at least 1 point for the future April’s. That was terrifying!)

Enjoyment factor: 3.5/5

My Rank: 1.8/5

IMDB: 3.5/10

Rotten Tomatoes: critics:  2.7/10  audience:  3.8/10

Letterboxd: 1.8/5