Two out of Five stars
Running time: 92 mins

Follow-up low-budget giant creature thriller is marginally better than Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus in that it's occasionally unintentionally funny but it's still a badly acted, poorly written and ineptly directed mess with dreadful special effects.

What's it all about?
Directed by Eric Forsberg, Mega Piranha stars ‘80s pop sensation Tiffany (it's only fair – Debbie Gibson was in Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus) as scientist Sarah Monroe, who accidentally creates a species of rapidly-growing, extremely aggressive piranha from her base on Venezuela's Orinoco River. As the piranha start chomping their way through the occasionally topless locals, the US sends in muscle-bound Special Forces action-hero Jason Fitch (Paul Logan) to try and control the situation, but Fitch and Monroe find, to their horror, that the piranha are a) capable of surviving a nuclear strike and b) heading for Florida Bay.

The Good
There are a few improvements over Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus, but that's not really saying much. For one thing the editing and pacing have been snapped up a bit, with shorter scenes and rapid transitions, although you still have hilariously inept moments like the scene that ends with Tiffany pointing to some debris and saying “We must get a sample of that boat right now!” and then has a few seconds of them not doing anything at all.

The Bad
Logan seems to be having a fair amount of fun as Fitch, particularly if the scenes where he brings a knife to a piranha fight are any indication. Sadly, the rest of the acting is utterly atrocious and there's no hint of self-awareness in the script – you can tell because otherwise someone would have had Tiffany say “I think we're alone now” at some point.

Similarly, the special effects are so bad that it occasionally looks like they're fighting Terry Gilliam-style cut-outs, though at least the scenes where they leap out of the water provide a few unintentional laughs. Sadly, like its predecessor, the film runs out of ideas way before the end, resulting in a lengthy, tedious middle section where almost nothing happens.

Worth seeing?
Given that this is out on DVD on 9th August, it really isn't worth paying good money to see at the cinema. Wait till you can get it on DVD for £3 in Tesco and then don't watch it then either.