Rip-off sequel is all about the gore and nothing else

Rating: 6/10 (14 July 2016)

Here's a sequel that didn't really need to be made – so simply throw it on the pile with all the others in the same situation. After starting off with an electrifying opening – lets just say it quickly builds up to one of the most terrifying and realistic major motorway accidents ever put on film – the plot takes a step backwards, turning into a mere lukewarm retread of the first film, in which the elaborate death scenes of the main characters take centre stage over acting, plot, and imagination. Of course, in films such as these, the death scenes make the film, and the emphasis is on gore and bloodshed here, so expect body parts to go flying (literally in some cases), sometimes ridiculously so.
The cast is generally sub par, delivering lame dialogue with little intelligence or wit. Of the original cast members, only Ali Larter returns, her character greatly improved here, and Tony Todd, making another sinister cameo appearance; his role the highlight of the entire movie. Otherwise this is derivative stuff, which nonetheless builds up the tension as it goes along. The viewer is asked to engage in a fun guessing game with the writers, trying to figure out who's going to bite it next. Things end with a contrived finale in which the final 'twist' scene is so obvious and overdone, the film as a whole is flawed. Only fans of gore, death, and SFX need apply, and if you're happy to sit back and enjoy that kind of thing, then FINAL DESTINATION 2 does enough to get by.