Into the Blue 2: The Reef (**)

INTO THE BLUE 2: THE REEF

 

Expectations were low for a direct-to-DVD follow up to Into the Blue.  The low expectations were met early on when Into the Blue 2: The Reef ramped up the B-movie bad acting and the pointless swimming, volleyball, and nightclub dancing montages, complete with gratuitous, distracting split screening.  Also, boobs.  Lots and lots of boobs on display.  I'm not complaining about the boobs.  The big surprise is despite all that nonsense, Into the Blue 2 turns a corner and sincerely attempts to become a taut, action-thriller. Smallville's Supergirl Laura Vandervoort has the thankless task of trying to fill Jessica Alba's bikini.  Chris Carmack is no Paul Walker.  But they try, so they get points for effort. Carmack and Vandervoort's Honolulu-based dive-master business gets more grief than they bargained for when Adam Munroe from Heroes and Naomi from Lost stroll into their dive shop, promising riches in exchange for help locating a fabled sunken Spanish vessel full of treasure.  Instead, no, there's no treasure, just sunken dirty bomb warheads, because - get this - they want to nuke Hawaii. ("Pearl Harbor: The Sequel.")  Too bad Into the Blue 2: The Reef didn't keelhaul the shitty acting (including an unbelievably off-putting, attention-whoring cameo by the chipmunk-faced chick from The Hills) and just focused on being a sincere thriller (with diving and bikinis) from the get-go. Sincerity counts for a lot.  So do boobs.