Into the Blue 2: The Reef

Into the Blue 2: The Reef‘s place as an entirely needless sequel is cemented virtually from its opening frames, as the movie, which retains none of the characters from its mediocre predecessor, suffers from a pervasively low-rent atmosphere that’s exacerbated by a storyline that couldn’t possibly be less interesting. Screenwriter Mitchell Kapner initially places an egregious emphasis on the fun-loving antics of his thinly-drawn characters, which ultimately results in an opening hour that’s rife with sequences wherein the film’s heroes participate in beach volleyball tournaments, attend wet t-shirt contests, and engage in other such entirely mindless endeavors. The storyline, which follows professional divers Sebastian (Chris Carmack) and Dani (Laura Vandervoort) as their lives are inevitably threatened by their slick yet sinister new clients (David Anders’ Carlton and Marsha Thomason’s Azra), has similarly been augmented with a whole host of thoroughly needless elements, as Kapner emphasizes hopelessly humdrum subplots in a shameless attempt at padding out the movie’s running time (eg the ongoing relationship troubles of the heroes’ close friends). The competent-yet-bland performances prove unable to alleviate the almost relentlessly uninvolving atmosphere, although, admittedly, it’s tough not to get a kick out of Anders’ gleefully smarmy work as the nefarious Carlton (with the actor apparently channelling his similarly villainous Alias character). And while the expectedly violent third act does provide the viewer with a temporary respite from the otherwise inane narrative, Into the Blue 2: The Reef is ultimately (and thoroughly) unable to establish itself as anything more than a blatant cash-grab designed to capitalize on the mild notoriety of its forebear.

*1/2 out of ****