Deep Blue Sea 2 (2018)
Jaws might've tried to instill a fear of sharks into people, but this? It seems to be trying to dispel that bad mojo instead.
Come to think of it it might've been the same with the first Deep Blue Sea, made twenty years prior. One of the first things they did was to clarify that sharks aren't actually interested in humans... an exception being the scientifically engineered murder sharks of the movie of course.
It was the 'great white' that time; now it's bull sharks. All the more monstrous already; all the more murderous!
It starts gritty. And beautiful. What an intro. The music's perfect. The South African duo are bad-ass and the ambient swim after that's an appreciative break. It shows promise! And then it all goes to hell.
Not just script-wise.
You move to a lecture, and immediately realize the script's finna be a bad one this time around. It gets worse. The conversations are all unreasonably provocative. The reactions exaggerated. The drone instead of the helicopter. The limited research facility budget and breadth. Too much God Complex talk. Too much flashy lighting instead of actual cinematographic detail. Too much special effects. Somewhat boxed in audio too if you don't listen via headphones.
I did learn a bit more about sharks, Danielle Savre does have a wonderful cleavage, and the war of man against AI compared to that of carnal prehistoric beasts feels all the more relevant in our time, but otherwise this wasn't the comeback I hoped it'd be.
The first movie was so good. Not actors (with certain exception - the first two were great) nor location is a match here, and the dialog often feels superficial and lacking weight; authenticity; punchline. The characters make up for it with overly aggressive demeanor instead.
Sad to say this couldn't compare to the first one after all. But still, there's a third one too; I think I'll see that one next...
rated 3/5: not bad