"#1 rule in Hollywood: If something works- repeat it endlessly."
'Final Destination' was the horror film that caught everyone offguard to become one of the most stylish, sly and enjoyable horror flicks Hollywood had churned out in a while. It worked because Death was the killer, and he could strike anywhere, at anytime in any form. No need for a silly disguise here. 'Final Destination 2' therefore does exactly the same as the first one and is as good as you would expect it to be.Instead of a plane crash, this time around it's a motorway pile-up that several 'lucky' survivors manage to escape after one of their number has a vision of it occurring. Death however won't be cheated of his prey and so goes after the survivors. Who are they? Who cares?The film certainly doesn't, after all they're simply fodder for the special effects team trying to outdo themselves with death after death here. It does make you realise that the first actually had a cast you gave a half damn about.
But this isn't about characters this is about gruesome and gory deaths and it can't be denied they're done with relish and invention. The motorway pile-up is stunningly done and is the best of its kind for sheer carnage that's well thought out and done with aplomb.
And then each death mounts up with staggering ingenuity and misfortune, the first death alone serving like a '100 things not to do in your kitchen' lesson (it's never explained however why Death needs them to die in such an elaborate way. Couldn't he give them all heart attacks which they can't run away from? Maybe I'm missing the point). And with that as a starter, they proceed to get bigger, funnier and gorier, although none have the impact of Terry's sudden interface with a bus from the original.
There's some semblance of a plot thrown in by Tony Todd's mortician (how does he know so much about it anyway?) with some guff about a birth cancelling out Death's plan to give us a climax to work towards but it's all nonsense really and it's all the same as before only not as fresh or thrilling.
But this isn't a film about logic, it's about gory deaths and the only thing you need to know is that thegory deaths rule the dancefloor here.For a trashy, gory flick with lots of sick jokes 'Final Destination 2' is never boring and has a lot of invention to it. But Hollywood, how about something original next time? Now THAT would be inventive.
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