Back in 1999, Deep Blue Sea hit screens and attracted a moderate audience. Even by 1999’s standards, its $73 million didn’t dazzle, as that sum barely allowed the film to crack the year’s box office top 30.

Still, it wasn’t a terrible sum, and it seemed like it should’ve been enough to ensure a sequel. Which it did – it just took 19 years for that second film to emerge via 2018’s direct-to-video Deep Blue Sea 2.

In the original film, “The Aquatica Project” experimented with genetically-altered sharks to find a cure for Alzheimer’s. This went awry, as the toothy fishies chowed down on many of the humans involved.

Nearly 20 years later, pharmaceutical magnate Carl Durant (Michael Beach) revives the program, and he brings shark expert Misty Calhoun (Danielle Savre) to assist. History repeats, as the aquatic predators they use as test subjects rebel and get their chomp on.

Man – that sure makes Sea 2 sound like a remake of the first movie. Based on the synopsis, you’d expect a virtual clone of the original film.

In reality, Sea 2 doesn’t offer a literal retelling of the first flick, but it comes too close for comfort. A mix of elements strongly echo the 1999 tale and make this seem like an uninspired rehash.

Not that I suspect a completely new story would’ve made much of a difference, for Sea 2 suffers from plenty of problems in addition to its stale plot. While the 1999 Sea never excelled, at least it offered a professional effort with actual talent on display. From director Renny Harlin through actors like Samuel L. Jackson, Stellan Skarsgård and Thomas Jane, the original managed to boast a reasonable array of skilled participants.

On the other hand, the cast and crew of Sea 2 lack even the most rudimentary name value. Of course, fame doesn’t guarantee talent, but when a movie fails to involve a single recognizable participant on either side of the camera, that doesn’t bode well.

I can’t claim anyone here manages to stand out as memorable, though I don’t know how much I can blame the actors. Sure, they offer mediocre performances, but when given thin, one-dimensional characters, how much more could I expect?

The film’s low cost doesn’t help – and it draws another negative comparison with the original film. That one enjoyed a “real Hollywood budget”, whereas Sea 2 looks like it cost about 27 cents to make.

Okay, that’s a bit unfair, as I’ve seen cheaper-looking direct-to-video efforts, but the absence of monetary wherewithal definitely creates a problem for a movie like this. Sea 2 involves a lot of CG effects, and they lack the polish they need to create a convincing environment.

This robs the film of much potential tension – if we don’t buy into the sharks, we won’t invest in the action. Again, the effects here aren’t truly terrible, but they’re flawed enough to damage Sea 2.

I don’t ask a lot of a low-budget video sequel like Sea 2, but even with lowered expectations, the movie falters. Too silly and amateurish to work, the film lacks much excitement or value.

Deep Blue Sea 2 appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.78:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Though not a bad image, this one betrayed the film’s low-budget origins.

Sharpness generally appeared good but not great. Though much of the film offered positive delineation, the picture could come across as a bit tentative at times.

I saw no shimmering or jagged edges, and edge haloes failed to appear. As for source flaws, the image lacked specks, marks or other issues.

Colors appeared average. With a heavily blue-oriented palette, the hues showed reasonable delineation, though they could appear a little dense.

Blacks looked reasonably deep, but low-light shots seemed slightly murky. Though the remained good enough for a “B-“, it didn’t dazzle.

Similar thoughts greeted the generally decent DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack of Sea 2. The ocean setting acceptable nice use of the side and rear speakers, though this information failed to become tremendously involving.

Like the visuals, the audio showed the movie’s bargain-oriented roots, and the soundscape followed suit. Music offered acceptable stereo spread and used the various channels in a fairly active manner, but I didn’t think the mix created an especially convincing soundfield.

This meant a decent amount of information around the room, but not a package that seemed particularly well-placed or engrossing. The mix turned into a lot of noise without the natural impression I’d like.

Audio quality was fine. Speech usually seemed natural and concise. Effects depicted the elements with acceptable accuracy and boasted pleasing low-end when necessary.

Music showed reasonable clarity and range, and they also packed solid bass response at times. This wasn’t a bad mix but it lacked the smoothness and impact I’d prefer.

The extras open with two featurettes. Returning to the Deep runs 12 minutes, 22 seconds and includes comments from director Darin Scott, studio executive Matt Bierman, producer Tom Siegrist, prosthetics Graham Press, digital effects lead Darrin Hofmeyr, CG scanning operator Wayne Davison, production designer Franz Lewis, special effects supervisor Jonathon Barrass, stunt coordinator Vernon Willemse, makeup/hair designer Niqui Da Silva, and actors Rob Mayes, Danielle Savre, Nathan Lynn, Kim Syster, Michael Beach, Jeremy Jess Boado, Cameron Robertson, and Darron Meyer.

“Deep” looks at the original and the push toward a sequel, story and characters, sharks and effects, sets and locations, and other domains. Despite its brevity, this becomes a pretty decent little overview.

With the six-minute, 32-second Death By Shark, we hear from Mayes, Lynn, Scott, Savre, Meyer, Da Silva, Syster, Robertson, Boado, Beach, executive producer Tom Keniston, and actor Adrian Collins. “Shark” looks at the movie’s various kill sequences. We get a few technical notes, but much of the show feels superficial.

A Gag Reel lasts three minutes, eight seconds. It mostly offers silliness from the set, and it doesn’t seem especially interesting.

Four Deleted Scenes occupy a total of four minutes, 40 seconds. The first two offer tiny tidbits that add nothing, while the third provides a look at Misty as a kid. This sounds compelling in theory but not in execution, as it feels superfluous.

The longest of the bunch, the fourth gives us exposition from Misty and Trent. Like the other scenes, it doesn’t go much of anywhere.

The disc opens with ads for Dirt, Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay, Tomb Raider and Batman Ninja. No trailer for Sea 2 appears here.

A second disc provides a DVD copy of Sea 2. It includes the same extras as the Blu-ray.

Fans who waited 19 years for a sequel seem destined to encounter severe disappointment via Deep Blue Sea 2. A cheap, ineffective semi-remake, the film lacks much to make it work. The Blu-ray brings us generally good picture and audio along with a smattering of supplements. Sea 2 could’ve been worse, but that’s faint praise for poorly executed sequel.