A let-down

Rating: 6/10 (3 January 2005)

The original ranks as one of my all-time favorite horror movies. I did enjoy many of the new characters and plot twists. The acting was far superior to the original. Here's my beef: Every now and then, the characters would engage in some utterly absurd action that was clearly contrived to throw suspense into the story. For example, when Michael investigates the noise in the sporting goods store ALONE, without telling anyone else where he's going (and Michael's the smart one!) For me, this just shatters the suspension of disbelief and reminds me that I'm watching a movie -- a movie that isn't even crafted well enough to hide the seams in its plot.
I found the entire subplot with Mekhi Phifer's character incredulous. His completely irrational choices are explained away when he suddenly appears to have gone insane. Unfortunately, nothing in the story sets up the mental collapse of this otherwise cool and collected character. His brief conversation with Ving Rhames does nothing to foreshadow a descent into madness. His desire to bring his child into the world and give it a better life than his own hardly sound like the ravings of a lunatic.
Oh, and the girl who goes chasing after the dog!!! Oh, puh-leeze!!!
I also disliked the epilogue. Why, oh why, would you dock your boat in a potentially hostile shore? Nobody thought to scout the shoreline first? Or drop anchor in the harbor, then take a dinghy to check out the coast? The bleakness of the ending felt fashionably, smugly pessimistic and hateful toward characters I had grown to care for. I do prefer the ending of the original, which is ambiguous but does at least leave room for hope.