Final Destination 2

It's a hilariously dumb schlockfest, how can you resist?
Be warned, this movie is not remotely frightening. Whereas the first FD attempted to undercut the silliness of the whole concept with some genuinely creepy sequences, this hare brained sequel simply plays the whole thing for laughs, and gets them. In truth the whole film is really nothing more than an excuse to string together some pretty inventive and grisly deaths (its extremely gory for an R rated picture), but the same could be said of a lot of horror movies and it's refreshing to see one so totally lacking in both pretension and narrative logic. The set up is pretty much the same as before: someone experiences a vision of an imminent disaster, narrowly avoids dying and in the process prevents the certain death of several other characters. Death won't give up however, and a series of freak 'accidents' start bumping off the support players. And so we are treated to 90 minutes of splatstick, with death scenes that share the same kind of dramatic dynamic as The Three Stooges or Pink...

A purposely trashy thriller
While Final Destination 2 follows the plot of it's predecessor, the similarities between the films stops there. The teen-melodrama and too good looking for their own good young stars are replaced (for the most part) with well orchestrated accident scenes and some very nice gore effects. It all starts when Kimberly (A.J. Cook) has a premonition of a huge multi-car pile up and inadvertantly saves herself and a few others. And then one by one, death comes calling with some over the top computer assisted and well orchestrated grisly deaths. Ali Larter reprises her role from the first film as Clear Rivers, and Tony Todd returns in his cameo role as well. Director David Ellis has crafted a purposely cheesy, trashy, and fun horror film that both outshines and pales in comparison to the original; and while it is very graphic and grisly for a mainstream horror film, it is never too mean spirited. The Infinifilm DVD is another fine piece of product from New Line (although I personally...

Done with style.
I highly enjoyed this flick. If you're willing to just kick back and have a good time, this is one enjoyable movie. The acting is good, the special effects are incredible, and the plot is actually above average.

Like Final Destination before it, this is a more creative horror film. It's not a hack and slash, but more a dark comedy of sorts. The fun of this film comes not from the events leading to death, but death itself. Luckily there's a large cast and the inbetween time is quite enjoyable.

The scene that puts this movie over the top however, comes right at the start. Just like FD's plane explosion, it sets the pace for the entire movie. FD2's highway scene is simply an amazing event. It's jaw dropping, it's gruesome, and it's fun.

They thankfully went for a strong R rating, and didn't shy away from getting really gruesome. They also threw in biker babe who briefly flashes early in the film, which probably should have been left out. Otherwise though, the suspense to gore ratio...

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