A Lame Sequel to a Lame Original

Rating: Null/10 (28 October 2003)

*Spoilers, discusses plot points*
After the initial car crash scene, I understood what I was in for. Pure ridiculous mayhem, completely hilarious because it's so over-the-top and unrealistic. Also clear, this movie wouldn't scare me at all. Terrible dialogue and generic characters. There's also no genuine sense of dread that follows the characters around. They just move from one plot point to the next seeming to forget all about the young boy (for example) they saw splattered into an oblivion by a falling sheet of glass (and by the way, after the said young boy had been under debilitating gas and almost choked to death in the dentist's office moments before, he sure goes after those pigeons with clear-headed gusto). These characters are so one-dimensional that it's hard to imagine any of them existing beyond their scenes in the film. The only fun to be had is in the gruesome death scenes - so overboard and gory, and half the fun is pointing out all the stupidity leading up to them. The deaths occur in such absurd ways that it's impossible to be frightened - it reminds me of the violence in South Park.
Overall, there's no successfully created mood or atmosphere. It's just plot and deaths. The characters arrive upon illogical conclusions to move to the next plot point. You can't feel anything for the characters or get behind them emotionally, so you are unaffected by the deaths (except for laughter).
So when you don't believe in any of the characters, or the situations presented, you can't place the intended themes into any Real Life context, and you're watching a movie that's not scary. You don't feel like Death is following the characters - Death would be more subtle. Hey! Subtly! That may have made this scarier.
The movie is humorous, but I'm still debating whether it's intentional. It has to be. It looks like they had too much fun making the death scenes. They are the best parts of the film, while at the same time they take away from it. It's horrible overall, but there are some parts you gotta see. I recognize the entertainment value here, but my grade is based on the movie's (lack of) success in achieving any suspense or horror.
Grade: D-