death like time's got her own plans 2

Rating: 5/10 (3 June 2006)

Many horror movie fans were pleasantly surprised by the discovery in 2000 of "Finale Destination". Its author, James Wong who cut his teeth on the X-Files saga (I'm not a fan at all of this series) had made a killing with this classy B movie which encompassed teenage, slasher, fantastic and horror movie in the same package. The viewer remembered of the invisible but omnipresence of death which was adamant about her plans and desperately tried to kill one after the other, this bunch of students led by Alex who tried to thwart her plans. It paid off well since this mix met the public's approval. So, in the wake of this little triumph, the nearly inevitable follow-up was De Rigueur.
At first sight, "Final Destination 2" seems to have the essential elements to have thumbs up from the audience. First, the multiple crash is impressively filmed. The director David R. Ellis who was a stunt-man and partly responsible for some action sequences in "the Matrix Reloaded" (2003) could show his expertise to film this vertiginous sequence. But his certain talent for directing can also be felt here and there throughout Kimberly's efforts to subvert death's plans. Then, there's a palpable, taut scenario. Many horror flicks today rely on special effects as the backbone of the film. Okay, there are rather flashy special effects here but used only when necessary. The moments during which death tries to take away the unfortunate victims are set with clockwork precision and announced with foreboding signs. Macabre humor is also more than acceptable but as the film is much more gore than the first chapter, it is not really for the faint-hearted. So, it's an enticing menu and one figures that one wouldn't want to shelve "Final Destination 2" in the messy department of useless sequels.
But if one takes a closer look, one realizes that Ellis' film is merely a photocopy of its first edition. The strengths of the film also constitute its weaknesses. Weaknesses because the qualities which contributed in cementing the first installment in its place of winner are rehashed here without novelties. The starting point and its development are identical as the thrust of the first film: to try at all costs to outsmart death's sinister intentions which isn't prepared to accept this and that's all. The surprise effect is absent and in short, you take the same old people with adequate replacements. So, the pile-up superseded the plane crash. Then, it seems that the authors tried to justify the making of this second chapter by linking the present story to a connection with the story of the first flick (check the sequence in the middle of the film when the ill-fated ones talk about the bunch of students in the first film). But in spite of these attempts and new tricks displayed by the scenarists to try to give the story substance, it's a run-on-the-mill fantastic film.
If you really enjoyed the first opus, then this may be your cup of tea. If you liked it without hailing it as a miracle, you can pass by. What's the point of watching the same story again with minor changes? And the end leaves the door open for a third episode which opened early this year. Is it any good?