Narco Sharks Review// Bigger, Badder, and What Did I Just Watch?

When you sit back, kick your feet up, and realize everyone is in on the joke, you’ll have a good time. Ricky Valente is back in Narco Sharks – or is it Narco Shark 2? No, it’s definitely Narco Sharks. Ricky Valente is back in Narco Sharks, sequel to Narco Shark, sans the black magic and definitely not being lured to the dark side. Narco Cop wants to make a sequel to his smash hit. Ricky Valente, however, has decided he wants to leave all that wickedness behind him.

Confused yet? That’s okay! I was a little at first, too. But you catch up real quick if you never saw the first movie, which I didn’t. Basically it’s a movie within a movie. Narco Cop wants to make a sequel, and lots of money. Ricky Valente has promised to no longer use black magic which is (apparently) a big part of what the audience wants. So now we get to watch a movie about a movie not being made. Ensue hilarity.

The schtick here is that it’s a bad 80s straight to VHS action/sci-fi flick with all the glorious retro digital effects. We’ve got a synthy pop soundtrack and overlaid dubbed dialogue. You need to watch this movie to truly appreciate everything I am telling you. It takes everything that you ever found fun in an 80s action and sci-fi flick and smashes into a fun homage sandwich. 

How Did We Get Here?

Narco Sharks is the brainchild of Gerardo Preciado (whom I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing), Mexican musician, filmmaker, and documentarian. He funded the movie by way of a Kickstarter. Preciado has long created soundtracks for imaginary horror and genre films. Narco Shark (Part 1) was his first successfully created feature length film as he has created many short films before then. Both Narco Shark and Narco Sharks (aka Narco Shark 2) made their debuts at the 1st and 2nd Annual Tokyo International Shark Film Festival, respectively. 

Narco Sharks has some moments that did lose me. There’s some grade school humor that isn’t exactly my style. However, I do see an audience for it. Having said that, I am a fan of ridiculous effects like baby sharks chasing down people and barking like dogs. What can I say, I can be sophomoric at times. I also could not stop laughing when I heard the following dialogue between Ricky Valente (Preciado) and his starving sidekick, Tito (Rafael Meza):

Ricky Valente: What’s better than food?
Tito: The power of friendship?
Ricky Valente: No, drugs.
Tito: But won’t that make Jesus cry?
Ricky Valente: No, he’s too busy in heaven.

Should You Take the Plunge? 

For all its charm and intentional digs at 1980s action/sci-fi straight to video schlock, I still feel Narco Sharks could have benefited from a much shorter run time. Clocking in at just under 90 minutes, it feels a bit too long and it makes me wonder if Preciado was having too much fun with his co-stars. I feel like some tighter editing could have brought us a much nicer timed film. Having said that, I did enjoy the fight sequence at the end. Overall, Narco Sharks was a fun night in watching a ridiculous movie about a man stumbling along trying to do right in this world. You can find Narco Sharks streaming for free on Tubi.