Back in 2005, Into the Blue was released to unfavorable critical response and lukewarm box office receipts. However, the presence of Jessica Alba in a swimsuit and the star power of Paul Walker and Josh Brolin, did make the film a bit of a cult classic beach movie. Though not directly based on it’s predecessor, Into the Blue 2: The Reef uses the same basic plot but a different cast, in this direct-to-DVD release.
Model Chris Carmack, who played Luke on the first season of The O.C., and has made numerous guest appearances on other television shows, stars as Sebastian, a dive master in Honolulu. Laura Vandervoort (Smallville) plays his drop-dead gorgeous wife, Dani. The couple owns a diving business and is up to their necks in debt. For Sebastian, renting diving equipment to vacationing tourists isn’t the way he wants to spend the rest of his life. So, when a wealthy couple Carlton (David Anders) and Azra (Marsha Thomason), request a week’s worth of dive time, Sebastian and Dani go out of their way to fulfill the request. Writer Sara Berrisford doesn’t leave the audience with too many questions, as it’s clear from the start that this couple is up to no good.
The couple is able to gain the trust of Sebastian and Dani very quickly. It seems they are seeking the Spanish ship “San Cristobal” which sunk somewhere near the North Reef and is rumored to contain lots of treasures. Sebastian has been trying to find the treasure for years, believing it to be his one chance to give his wife a better life. Now, after years of disappointment, Sebastian believes he may have caught a break, after Carlton reveals he has a map that will lead them right to the ship.
Unfortunately for Sebastian, the couple has other plans. Their real mission is to find a couple of cases that were tossed overboard during the opening sequence of the film. As Dani and Sebastian start to question the motives of their new clients, on a night dive, they decide to take a peek at the contents of the first chest that was recovered. They are shocked to discover the makings of a bomb, without the warhead. As it turns out, the second container contains the warheads; one without the other is useless. When they surface, Sebastian and Dani are taken hostage by their “clients.” As incentive to reclaim the other chest, the clients kidnap Sebastian and Dani’s best friends, Avery and Kimi (Rand Holdren and Mircea Monroe).
Dani is able to escape and is found floating on a buoy suffering from hypothermia. Azra and Sebastian head to the hospital to intercept Dani, in case she awakens from her coma. Meanwhile, aboard Sebastian’s boat, the crew heads out to find the last chest. A mistake results in some killing which ultimately leads to the discovery of the San Cristobal.
Into the Blue 2: The Reef is everything you would expect from a direct-to-DVD film. The acting is pretty bad and the script is purely B-movie material. Since this is a beach movie, there is lots of gratuitous nudity and it’s obvious that the filmmakers used any opportunity they could think of to have Chris Carmack take off his shirt. Others will find themselves drooling at Laura Vandervoort, who is at most in a skimpy bikini for the entire film; with the exception of two scenes: one has her running around in an open-backed hospital gown and another in which she is wear a skin tight evening dress. Others will be paying attention to Marsha Thomason. Are you seeing a theme here?
It’s interesting to note that Into the Blue 2 was directed by Stephen Herek, who has also helmed some notable films including: Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead, The Mighty Ducks, Mr. Holland’s Opus and Rock Star with Mark Wahlberg. Needless to say, I’m not entirely sure why he took on this project. Perhaps it was the free trip to Hawaii?
The disc I received for view is a data compressed copy of the original and is entirely pointless to review in terms of video and quality.
The audio quality is a standard Dolby Digital 5.1 track. The surround channels contain primarily bleed audio. There are a few air bubble effects in the rear channels during the underwater sequences. The dialogue is stable in the center channel but lacks the warmth present in higher bitrate audio tracks. The LFE channel is off and on but it never sounded full enough.
Into the Blue 2: The Reef has a couple unremarkable extras:
• Music Video – This is just a just a compilation of shots from the movie and behind-the-scenes footage.
• Featurette: “Get Wet” (11:42) – Shows the actors training for their diving sequences.
• Featurette: “Run For Your Life” (6:42) – Concerns the big chase scene at the end of the film; apparently the filmmakers were inspired by Run Lola Run.
