OK sequel; sad futility

Rating: Null/10 (3 February 2003)

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD
This movie is an OK sequel to the first film. Not nearly as good, and lacks the jolt-in-your-seat surprises such as the death-by-bus and the shrapnel decapitation from Part 1. The deaths are gorier, but not as effective. Oh, and the ending is silly and kind of a letdown. Plus the explanation for how to cheat death this time (something involving bringing new life to even things out) needs to be clearer. But other than that, I've seen much worse sequels to good movies, and the highway pileup at the beginning more than matches the last one's plane explosion.
The movie introduces a rather sad futility for the characters, if you think about it. Out of the characters in Part 1, only Clear (Ali Larter) is alive in this chapter. (It's revealed that Carter didn't survive the falling sign in Paris, and Alex, our hero who predicted the plane crash, was killed by a falling brick shortly thereafter.) Clear doesn't make it through this movie alive. Which means that no matter what Kimberly and Officer Burke managed to do to cheat death here, they have about as long to live as the last batch of victims!