NO ESCAPE? Try the door marked "EXIT"

Rating: Null/10 (12 May 2007)

The opening scene plays like the climax, as if they muddled the reels. It is so terrifying that you know they cannot possibly follow it. Unfortunately, it is also confusingly shot, which did not bode well for the rest. Like SUNSHINE, I had no clue what was happening most of the time. Why do filmmakers do this?
Another miscalculation is the characterization. The original saw the world through the eyes of one individual. The sequel begins with one individual who is not sympathetic then shifts to Jurassic park kids who are less relatable. These children are forced to witness such brutal scenes, not least an unnecessarily explicit torching, that it is a turn off. The original actually had only two really violent scenes. Danny Boyle wisely pulled his punches for the rest of the picture so as to let the human drama breathe. His film had a heart. The sequel parades its heart in a token way before plonking it on a blooded sideboard so as to get on with gratuitousness. Apparently, a sequel has to have more, more, more. I think less is always more. The producers think we want another eye-gouging, but that worked in the original because it was delivered to someone unsympathetic to the audience. The sequel is about nastiness for the sake of it.
The script has not an idea in its head, even resorting to a redundant lift from "The Silence of the Lambs". I presume the inclusion of so many Americans is due to the original's success in the States. I like the idea of America colonizing Britain but nothing is really done with the idea. Only the opening scene lingers uncomfortably in the memory. This really is a poor film.
If you see Dick Wittington outside the cinema, tell him: "Turn back, Turn back!"