“Don’t worry, Shimada. I’m not taking you to Manzanar!”
This just one of the many gems of dialogue contained in the movie Megashark vs Giant Octopus. I recently saw it on the Syfy Channel, and with a title like that, you may wonder what the heck this has to do with Asian Americans, sex with a white pop star, and a line about Japanese internment. Megashark vs Giant Octopus is a wonderfully bad movie – bad enough to be worth seeing. The trailer generated its own viral buzz when it was released, and the version on YouTube has more than 1.5 million views.
Anyway, let’s talk about the movie. (Warning: spoilers ahead after the jump!)
In the movie, marine biologist Emma MacNeil, played by aging pop star Debbie Deborah Gibson, is investigating the mysterious death of a whale. Japanese Marine Biologist Seiji Shimada, played by Vic Chao, is investigating a variety of sea disasters. They are brought together by Lorenzo Lamas, who plays a caricature of a racist government official, because of disasters caused by the giant octopus and the megashark — that was his line above. He has other wonderful lines like:
“All wolf packs are on high alert, and the Japs are doing the same!”
Vic Chao rolls his eyes when he hears that. Just like my teenage daughter does.
The movie has some fun twists. Vic Chao’s character gets to have sex with Deborah Gibson’s character. You don’t often see Asian guys having sex with white women in movies. What’s even rarer is when an Asian guy having sex with a white woman becomes a pivotal part of the plot!
There are highlights other than an Asian guy getting some from a white woman, like the megashark eating an airliner right out of the air. Lorenzo Lamas has more wonderful lines. When given the proposal to move the Megashark and the giant octopus to specific parts of the world, he says:
“How do we get them there – send them an evite?”
As I said, I saw it on Syfy Channel. I suspect that it will be replayed there periodically. Catch this movie if you like movies that are so bad that they are good. Plus, there are rumors of sequel!
