Tremors: Shrieker Island – Fun Sequel
Director: Don Michael Paul
Writer: Don Michael Paul, Brian Brightly (Screenplay) Brian Brightly (Story)
Starring: Michael Gross, Jon Heder, Richard Brake, Caroline Langrishe, Jackie Cruz, Cassie Clare
Plot: When a group of hunters genetically modify Graboid eggs, they face an all-out war against the larger, terrifyingly intelligent Graboids, and the swiftly multiplying Shriekers.
Tagline – Another day in paradise
Runtime: 1 Hour 43 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Tremors: Shrieker Island starts when a researching team led by Jas Welker (Langrishe) with her team including Jimmy (Heder), Freddie (Cruz) and the locals discover her boss Bill (Brake) has genetically modified Graboids placing them on a remote island for a glorified hunting weekend for the rich.
When one of Jas’s team is eaten, she sends for Burt Gummer (Gross) her ex who will need to come to the island to help with the fight back against Graboids before they become a real threat to the local ecosystem.
Thoughts on Tremors: Shrieker Island
Characters & Performances – Burt Gummer is forced out of his world of isolation to help his ex-girlfriend fight against modified graboids, showing off his ability to adapt to different terrain and be prepared to fight with whatever weapons he is left with. He never backs down, has cheesy one-liners and weird stories, but he will do the right thing to make sure the world is safe. Michael Gross has built his career around this character, he has always committed to the role, which is why the franchise has such a following. Jimmy is one of the research team that is leading his own team, he is a bit of a slacker with his actions but becomes the one that will need to work with Burt even if he isn’t as strong in conflict. This character is more of a replacement for Travis who didn’t return this time around. Jon Heder does well in the role without being one of the more memorable sidekick characters in the franchise. Where this film struggles with characters is with the strong female characters, Jas, Freddie and Anna, who are all the brains or smarts and deadliest with weapons, who just seem to get side-lined for the biggest action sequences through the film. The actors behind these characters all do well through the film too, which is why we could have seen so much more from them.
Story – The story here follows Burt Gummer as he must return to action fighting Graboids after a billionaire decides to modify them for a trophy hunt, leading to him needing to go down memory lane to save the day once again. When it comes to the Tremors franchise, we have now seen them hit nearly every continent and environment through the franchise, with this one looking at putting them in a world where they wouldn’t naturally be, this plays into the story to show the danger they could bring to the environment as well as showing how science can always make things worse. When it comes to the fighting back, this is everything we would expect without needing to bring much new to the table, the characters fit the world, getting to learn a little bit more about Burt’s past is added in here too.
Themes – Tremors: Shrieker Island is the 7th part of the action adventure comedy franchise which will see the giant worm like creatures and their evolutions attack a different area after being released on a tropical island. The new location does help this film out a lot, much like the last two, we go somewhere completely different to get a different story that will play into the environmental location rather than just desert area again. The graboids and shriekers look good in the battles which is nice, only it might have been nice to see some of the other additions to the world we got in other franchises, or even a complete fresh version that will be jungle based.
Final Thoughts – Tremors: Shrieker Island is a nice addition to the franchise, another easy watch to keep us entertained in B-movie fashion.
