BBQ, anyone?

Rating: Null/10 (4 March 2003)

You'd think, reading some of these comments, that this movie is the greatest thing since Yamila Diaz. It's not. This movie really isn't good. If you look at it as a whole, you'll find it's less than the sum of it's parts. It gets pretty annoying at times, what with all the "Death's Design" talk and blah blah blah. There's a point in the movie where you beg the people chattering away about Death's plan to shut up and go do something to get themselves killed already. Some of the acting sucks and the characters are all transparent and paper-thin. The first one is ten times better and achieves it's goal with a little more dignity and class. So, why then, after all I've said in regards to how schlocky this flick is, am I recommending it? I'll put it to you like this: PEOPLE GET IT IN THIS MOVIE. It's that simple. And it's not even that they get it, I mean they really get it. In extra bad ways, no less. For example, I'm sure that you've heard about the beginning of the film with the huge car crash/pile-up deal. It's the same setup as the first movie, where the kid dreams this whole airplane disaster only to wake up and find that it hasn't actually happened... yet. Small nuances of the premonition start to arise and he realizes that the plane he is about to fly on will actually explode. He freaks out, some of the passengers leave with him, plane blows up mid-flight, Death starts hunting the survivors down in the order they're supposed to die in, blah blah blah. If you're reading this review, you should already know the deal. Same thing here but with a twist. In the sequel, when the first person buys the farm in the sequence, you'll know that you're in completely different territory. I'll spare you the details cause I'd like you to be surprised but that moment shook me up real bad. Never before had I seen something so unsettlingly realistic. It reminded me of the test footage you see of those crash test dummies, it was that real. And then pretty much everyone else in the vicinity of that crash gets it, some worse than others. The movie is worth seeing just for the intro alone because it was pretty intense. Throughout the rest of the movie, everyone who was "saved" from being in the accident starts getting bumped off. And how! People get it, folks and I think you owe it to yourself to catch this in a theater if it's possible. One thing that made this movie even more enjoyable was the crowd's reaction to the death scenes. It was like applause for an awards ceremony. To make it short and end this, see the movie if you wanna see people get greased in horrible ways. Don't watch this looking for an Oscar winner. Watch it for the visceral thrill of seeing someone get their ticket punched! I'm definitely getting the DVD, at least for that. Rating: ***1/2 out of *****. P.S. You'll never look at a family BBQ the same way again.