I decided to watch a film called ‘Titanic 2’ and even though it was free, I want my money back. It is rare that I walk away from a movie feeling frustrated. I am good at finding enjoyment in most things, and I often enjoy movies that have been panned by critics. However, there is a movie I watched recently that left my blood boiling. I didn’t go into Titanic 2 with high hopes. After all, it has been ranked among the worst movies of the 21st Century.
However, I don’t know that a film could be as bad as this one. Titanic (1997) is a beloved movie, considered one of the greatest of all time. Making a sequel to this seems like a bizarre idea, because it is. Titanic is based on true events, so making a sequel to a film rooted in history doesn’t really make sense. However, some filmmakers didn’t seem to think so and had the audacity to make Titanic 2, which was released in 2010.
Let me set the scene for you. The story is slightly different to that of the 1997 classic flick, but it is all too similar in ways. A boy and a girl get on a boat named, you guessed it, Titanic 2.
They fall in love. Chaos ensues when the boat starts to, you guessed it, sink. I won’t spoil the ending for you, but let’s just say there was a slight variation on the floating door moment. The movie follows passengers on the Titanic 2, which sets sail to mark the 100th anniversary of the original ship disaster.
A looming iceberg threatens the lives onboard, and a pair of lovers must fight together for survival. Other things are going on in the background, all painful to watch due to the terrible CGI and green screens.
There was one thing I couldn’t believe about this film: It has a huge cast of actors and extras, all willing to put their faces to a project that anyone with sense would realise was doomed to fail. Included in the cast is the grandson of a Hollywood legend.
Shane Thomas Van Dyke, who is the grandson of classic Hollywood actor Dick Van Dyke, is one of the main stars of this film. It really struck me that, with all of the pull this actor’s family must have, he would end up in a car crash flick like this. You can imagine my bewilderment when I learned that he not only starred in this film, but he also directed it.
I guess the surname gave me a speck of hope for this film, but all of that was quickly dwindled when I was met with a predictable storyline, scripted lines that were some of the cringiest I have ever heard, and CGI that was nothing other than laughable.
It is a shame, really. Titanic 2 has the makings of an average, enjoyable disaster movie, following the same plot as most movies in that genre do.
A team of experts realise disaster is about to strike, they try to stop it, disaster hits, and a pair of lovers have to fight for survival. However, using Titanic as the hook takes all believability and, to be frank, respectability out of this film.