Review Format:

Blu-ray

The original Blue Crush was released in 2002, so it came as quite a surprise when it was announced that a spiritual sequel was in the works, some nine years later.

Wanting to feel closer to her free spirited mum who passed away, Dana (Sasha Jackson) takes inspiration from her old diaries and travels to South Africa in order to check out all of her favourite surfing hotspots. She soon meets up with Pushy (Elizabeth Mathis) and gets introduced to her beach squatting friends.

There are lots of pretty shots of tropical scenery, waves curling, African savannahs and slow-motion surfing to enjoy. But, that’s pretty much it...

The main problem with the film is that nothing much actually seems to happen. There are a few inoffensive teen rivalries, a playful pelting of water balloons at policemen, a sub-plot about elephant poaching and a broken into locker to contend with, but the only emotion that it manages to illicit is one of complete indifference. Point Break this isn’t.

Things all start to make sense when you learn that it was directed by sequel-specialist Mike Elliot (Death Race 2, Smokin’ Aces 2 and American Pie Presents: The Book of Love) and written by Randall McCormick, who was infamously responsible for penning Speed 2: Cruise Control.

In fairness, it does try a teeny bit harder to ratchet up the tension in the second half, but by then I’d almost entirely lost interest. Kate Bosworth and Michelle Rodriguez became breakout stars after Blue Crush was released, but this direct-to-DVD effort works best as a relaxing, tropical sedative.

So we are left with some attractive surfers, an admittedly decent soundtrack and a story about a surfer chick following her heart. The film will be best enjoyed by its tween / teenage girl target audience, so feel free to add a point to this review score if you happen to be one. For everyone else though, Blue Crush 2 is a rental curiosity at best.

Special Features:

There is a surprising amount of extra features here, which add more value to the package. In addition to a feature commentary with the cast and crew, there is an alternate opening, deleted scenes with an introduction by Director Mike Elliot, a gag real, making-of documentary and a number of themed featurettes.