Of all the Scream clones, or more appropriately, teen horror movies to come from the nineties and beyond, Final Destination has always been the best. It seemed likely then that it would get a sequel, and deservedly so as the first was so effective, and we want to see what has become of the survivors. As with the majority of horror sequels, the gore is increased, the deaths are more elaborate, and the plot introduces something new. And of course it is not as good. However, the makers of Final Destination 2 clearly recognise this, and rather than trying to make a superior film, they try to out-do the first in shock value and death scenes, and at times succeed, as well as making the story involving and entertaining too. Much of the tension, thematic depth, and style of the first film is lost, but it more than makes up for this with buckets of blood which will satisfy all us gore hounds.
Kimberley and her friends are leaving for Spring Break. On the highway she has a premonition of a massive pile-up and her own death, as well as the deaths of several others. She stops her car, thereby preventing her involvement with the crash, and all the cars behind her whose passengers would have been killed. A cop intervenes and she tries to explain. The pile-up occurs anyway, and her friends are killed too. Soon it becomes apparent that they have cheated death, who is now coming to pick them off one by one. Some believe this, some don’t, and Kimberley decides to find Clear rivers, the sole survivor of last year’s similar phenomenon. Together they try to stop death from getting them, but it seems that death will not be fooled so easily this time.
Like the first film, an unusual amount of other story lines could have been conceived if a certain character had done a certain thing differently. Questions of fate though are largely avoided in favour of elaborate deaths and effects, though this is still an intelligent film. As all the survivors of the car crash are connected to those who died in the aftermath of the plane crash, it may be thought that death is doing this simply to pull Clear into the open. The ripple effect may be said to be ever expanding, that soon everyone will die, and of course this is true, but while death may be stalking us all, new life ensures that we will continue to exist. The deaths here are mostly more impressive, less subtle, as some of the original deaths were slow and seemingly could have been easily avoided. Here, heads are smashed off, people are burnt and cut apart and various implements are used to deadly, and funny effect. The film moves quickly, with less emphasis on characterisation than the first had, but there are still many laughs, shocks and excitement. While the first may have instilled a genuine fear of death, this is mainly about fun and gore.
As with the first film the features are better than expected. Documentaries, deleted scenes, and games make this a worthy buy.
As always, please leave your comments on the movie and review. Is this your favourite in the series or is it a big step down from the first?
The Spac Hole 