An intentionally over-the-top and insanely excessive remake of a cult favorite horror doesn’t sound as though it’s got the potential to become a critical darling and a box office sensation, but the best thing about Piranha 3D by far is that everyone involved completely understands the assignment.

Director Alexandre Aja had made his name for tackling more cerebral and violent fare in the genre, but his detour into outright comedy ended up securing a Certified Fresh approval rating of 74 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, as well as recouping its budget three and a half times over from theaters.

It’s gratuitous, ridiculous, incredibly silly, wildly deranged, and incredibly entertaining all at once, with Piranha swimming back onto screens with its tongue planted about as deep into a cheek as humanly possible, all bolstered by a top-notch cast embracing the sun, sea, sand, sex, blood, gore, dismemberment, decapitation, and much more to deliver a deliriously gore-fueled romp.

It most certainly isn’t high art, and there were a lot of people understandably put off by the movie dialing things so far past 11 it beggared belief from the very first scene, but those are precisely the reasons why those who instantly found a soft spot in their hearts for Piranha 3D will defend it to the death.

Even now – and without the added dimension – it’s still drawing in the crowds on streaming, with FlixPatrol naming the ode to extravagance on ever level as one of ViaPlay’s biggest hits this weekend, because summer season is truly upon us.

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