DEEP BLUE SEA 2 (2018)

DEEP BLUE SEA 2 (2018)

Tagline: Return to the deep... if you dare.

(Action, Sci-Fi, Smart Sharks) [R]

Yes. They are a bit more dangerous than traditional lab rats, but no one is gonna get hurt here.

In this one, a billionaire named Carl Durant throws money at a group of scientists to help him perfect genetically altered bull sharks at an isolated floating research facility. Their purpose is to create a serum that will increase the intelligence of human beings so that they can outwit AI machines of the future. It doesn’t take long before one of the 5 sharks in the test group named “Bella” has a bunch of babies. Now the crew and the scientists must outwit sharks who are smart enough to hate. 

First off, when this came out on video I knew we were not in for a masterpiece like we had in the first movie. I consider DEEP BLUE SEA the best shark movie ever made to this day, however, I did expect more than we got in this second installment in the series, and that lead to some initial disappointment. After my 3rd watch yesterday, I have actually come around to loving this movie and I will go into why. 

What this movie gets right is the cast. While we don’t get top-tier talents like Samuel L. Jackson and Thomas Jane, we do get some solid actors and actresses. They also did a decent job with the sharks. DEEP BLUE SEA was groundbreaking CGI for its time and the practical props were amazing. Compared to DEEP BLUE SEA this film doesn’t live up, but it holds up better than 80% of all shark movies out there. The shark movie genre(which seems to add several new movies every year) sadly is loaded with bottom-of-the-barrel CGI. This movie also gets the score down solid. I also liked the lighting on such a small budget which makes this probably small set seem bigger than it is. The pacing overall also works, we don’t get many lulls, but we do get a few after the first 30 minutes or so. 

Acting wise casting Danielle Savre as Misty Calhoun who runs an organization that helps people understand sharks was a great choice. Savre was 30 at the time this movie was made which gave her credibility in the sense that we believe she had the credentials to be invited to the research facility in the first place. Not that younger people can’t do things, but by 30 you’ve had a chance to build a resume. Outside of this movie, Savre's other big roles were in TV “Station 19” and “Grey’s Anatomy”. We also get Michael Beach who plays billionaire Carl Durant. Beach is good in this role, but not great. He’s actually quite a bit better in AQUAMAN but gets fewer lines in that movie. Kim Syster also stands out as Leslie Kim. Her other notable b-movie was DEATH RACE: INFERNO. Rob Mayes (JOHN DIES AT THE END) plays a bit of a stock character named Trent Slater and is more than adequate. Then to round out the notable roles, I also liked Nathan Lynn who plays Aaron Ellroy. His character provides a bit of levity and an appropriate level of humor at times. He reminds me of Tom Scoggins from the first movie. 

When it comes to things I didn’t like about this movie, I have a bit of a list. My first issue is that even though the baby sharks give this a bit of a piranha feel if we don’t really see them fully, it kind of gets lost in the execution. It also takes away from the larger sharks to the point where we see way less of them than I had hoped. There is also a part of the film where Durant has a device that controls where the sharks go. For some reason when that device would have come in handy the most, he and everyone else opts to NOT use it. My other issue was the actual plot. It’s a lot like the first film in the sense that we get genetically engineered sharks. The reason is changed, but it’s so far out there that it kind of takes away from the rest of the story. We also have Durant taking this serum and saying that it only lasts so long, but if that was the case, why does he keep taking it? The whole movie is predicated on him wanting to “perfect” the serum. Durant being a crazy billionaire, you would think would have realized he was alienating his people and starting to kind of flip out. Then again, maybe that is a real-life issue too. I mean who the heck knows what billionaires do with their spare time. 

Overall DEEP BLUE SEA 2 is actually a pretty great movie when compared to the shark movie genre in general and would be even better with a few minor changes. Don’t go in expecting a massive cinematic triumph and you could have a bit of fun with this. For me, it’s a 5 out of 7. It did take a while to grow on me though. 

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