Final Destination 2 (2003) Reviews

• Buckle up.

  Spikeopath2009-06-12

  Kimberly Corman has a terrifying vision that a highway pile up will claim her life and that of her friends. Blocking the entrance with her car, Kimberly watches in horror as the crash unfolds, thus saving her life and that of the people in the queue behind her. But the grim reaper is not impressed and he's coming to claim the deaths of all those who should have died in the crash. For a sequel to truly work well it has to come up with something fresh, otherwise why do a sequel eh? Well the makers of Final Destination 2 choose to use the basic same formula of the hugely enjoyable first film, only adding more black humour into the crazy death design broth. Opening with a quite horrific highway pile up, FD 2 then takes us on a journey that sees an assortment of folk offed in various and gruesome ways. The story remains the same as the first film, even though writers Bress and Gruber think they are being intricate by weaving this plot into the original story, but ultimately it's just a devilishly nonsense fun picture. Ali Larter returns for a second helping, and she in turn is joined by a bunch of no mark actors waiting for death, which is perfectly fine for the genre discerning fan. This is a riot, and as long as you don't look too deep into it (why would you really?) you may just find yourself having a real good time. 7/10

• Clever And Entertaining Sequel

  Theo Robertson2010-08-08

  The original FINAL DESTINATION was a smart reworking of the teen horror film . Instead of horny teenagers getting their heads lopped off by a mad axeman in a mask , the protagonists , who are composed of a cross section of society , are stalked by the worst monster in the world - death itself . FINAL DESTINATION 2 follows the same formula Kevin Williamson pointed out in one of his screenplays for SCREAM that sequels up the ante , everything has to be that little bit bigger with a higher body count and the sequel gets off to a great start with a premonition of an explosive car crash . The film's heroine Kimberly knows what's coming next so holds up the traffic saving numerous drivers from a fiery death . Unfortunately destiny doesn't like being cheated and no one will be appearing on WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE , the bad things that are going to happen to the protagonists will indeed be final There's a term used by film critics called " Hierarchy of image " which , if the director lingers on an object then it has meaning to the plot . Ironically perhaps the best example of this is the television series CASUALTY where if the camera shows a chip pan then you can be sure it'll burst in to flames later in the sequence . In some ways this is a film employing the anti- hierarchy of image since it toys with the audience in to thinking they're going to see an object kill the hapless victim only for the rug to be pulled from under their feet . It's a different take on the horror film and it probably doesn't stand up to a second viewing since all the surprises are gone but it's highly entertaining the first time you see it

• More Deaths, Less Quality

  marcus_stokes20002006-10-02

  *Final Destination SPOILERS* When a young woman (A.J. Cook) has a premonition on her road trip that ended up killing her friends & the young woman was saved by a police officer (Micheal Landes). While some people have died in the huge car accident. The young woman managed to save the lives of other people (Jonathan Cherry, Terrence T.C. Carson, Keegan Connor Tracy, Lynda Boyd, James N. Kirk, Sarah Carter). But Death wants them back, and the only person who can help them try to survive is the last survivor from flight 180 (Ali Larter), but will her help be enough? Final Destination 2 doesn't work; first, we get a heroine who does very little, secondly the story is quickly forgotten for the death scenes, thirdly the plot twist (the survivors from Flight 180 saved the new survivors from the deaths they were destined to) leaves quite the hole, as we'll never know if the survivors who died before this revelation were part of that or not, fourthly, if it's a sequel, where is the theme from the original?, and lastly, the ending is cheap and stupid. As a horror movie, it deserves a 6/10 for effort, however, compared to the first and the third, gets a 2/10. I'll guess I'll be fair... Final Destination 2: 5/10.

• Shock Value -- 7 (Good Flick)

  jimboduck2005-07-18

  You know that feeling you get when you're watching America's Funniest Home Videos and the oblivious son hits his hapless father in the crotch with an aluminum bat? It gets a quick reaction, like, ooh, I feel your pain man. FINAL DESTINATION 2 is a 90 minute or so string of those painful shots, as each character one by one meets an unfortunate death by household appliance. Bodies are slammed by trucks, heads are impaled, and limbs fly through the air. When one of the characters dies when her car's airbag explodes out of nowhere, I blurted "Yeah! Wow, did they do that??? Yeah, they DID do that. Right on!" Although the film has a very serious atmosphere about it, what with the creepy score and people sincerely freaking out and everything, it still retains a campy humor about it buried beneath its high-budget exterior. Many movies would shy away from smashing up plastic ketchup-filled dummies, opting instead to avoid the gore. Not FINAL DESTINATION 2! This movie is an honest approach to movie-making, hearkening back to the day when you got together with friends and said, "Okay, in this scene we cut to the dummy falling off the building, it's run over by a Mack truck, and it splatters chunks of blood all over that Oldsmobile over there." As for the premise behind FINAL DESTINATION 2, how do I put it into words? A.J. Cook has premonitions that people died in a nasty pileup on the highway. Thing is, this never happened. And ... she continues to have premonitions that those same people will die in due time. Those people eventually die. Did I get that right? The universal law of nature is that, well, Death sometimes misses its mark and has to fix its mistakes (which usually involves electrical equipment getting wet and other freak accidents of home improvement). If this all sounds convoluted, watch the movie. You'll see what I mean. The premise of FINAL DESTINATION 2, as much potential as it might have, doesn't make much sense and is pretty hokey, but if you medicate your inquisitive mind with heavy sedatives, you'll be able to look past the flimsy premise and enjoy the movie. I'm definitely looking forward to a Final Destination 3.

• Creepier, gorier and better put together than the first

  Agent102003-01-31

  I was apprehensive when I didn't Devon Sawa in the credits or this movie, but then again, this film didn't really need him. This wasn't a sequel in the purest sense, but the film makers created methods to link all of the new characters to the old ones, creating a flow which wasn't too jarring. Unfortunately, the dialogue was the only real stinker in this film. The pretentiousness, the obviousness and the downright hokiness that came out of the mouths of the characters really detracted from the tension, turning their performances into a bunch of acting class rejects. But I digress. The only thing people are looking for is how Death will get the new set of escape artists. The sheer surprise and execution of the executions made me jump and crawl. In such a desensitized world we live in, being able to jump out of my seat means this film is a winner.