Parents' Guide to

Piranha 3DD

By Jeffrey Anderson, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 18+

Bloody, sexed-up sequel lacks predecessor's camp appeal.

Movie R 2012 83 minutes
Piranha 3DD Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

age 17+

Based on 6 parent reviews

age 18+

In to deep

Classic Piranha movie with loads of blood, gore, cameos, dark humor, steamy situations and more.

This title has:

Too much violence
Too much sex
Too much consumerism
Too much drinking/drugs/smoking
age 18+

Very gross movie

This is one of the nastiest movie in all of history. I mean nothing can beat it's grossness.

This title has:

Too much violence
Too much sex

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (6):
Kids say (22):

While the previous Piranha movie had just the right blend of silliness, exploitation, and fun, Piranha 3DD seems totally lost. It comes across as forced, ugly, offensive, and lazy. The theme park idea could have been enjoyably ridiculous, but director John Gulager treats it with the same callousness as Koechner's character does. Likewise, the piranha attacks are lazy and dumb, using "close calls" to generate artificial suspense. And the movie stoops so low as to show a piranha killing a young boy.

Where the movie succeeds is in its choice of actors. Bush makes an unusual romantic hero, and Panabaker is an appealing and somewhat intelligent heroine. Ving Rhames and Christopher Lloyd, both veterans of the previous film, turn up in small parts, and David Hasselhoff is funny in a self-mocking role. Gary Busey and the director's father, Clu Gulager, appear in the prologue, which -- in a forecast of things to come -- uses cow farts as a plot device.

Movie Details

  • In theaters: June 1, 2012
  • On DVD or streaming: September 4, 2012
  • Cast: Danielle Panabaker, David Koechner, Matt Bush
  • Director: John Gulager
  • Studio: Dimension
  • Genre: Horror
  • Run time: 83 minutes
  • MPAA rating: R
  • MPAA explanation: sequences of strong bloody horror violence and gore, graphic nudity, sexual content, language and some drug use
  • Last updated: February 25, 2023

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