Mixed feelings

Rating: Null/10 (2 December 2003)

I liked the first Final Destination because it wasn't the typical teen horror movie, although it wasn't perfect (no movie is). It had a little bit of a story and had quite a few creepy moments. The deaths were sudden and violent, but for the most part they weren't excessive. I had hoped that Final Destination 2 would continue with these traits, but it seemed to be just an excuse to show people being constantly splattered, burned, smashed, ripped, crushed and impaled very graphically. This is not scary, it's just makes the movie hard to watch for some people. I was entertained by the movie because it was fairly fast-paced and because it's fun to pick out all the mistakes, illogic, stupid dialogue, continuity lapses, etc., but I really don't care to see guts and heads flying all over the place. I understand that this is sometimes necessary in horror films, but really, can't we leave SOMETHING to the imagination anymore? All the best horror films have a message or a moral that they are trying to get across to the audience, however crudely executed it is, and that message is the focus of the story. But in Final Destination 2, and similar movies that emphasize blood and guts over plot and atmosphere, there is no message to be taught. It exists for no other purpose than to glorify death and carnage. I don't understand why some people find graphic portrayals of people getting sliced and diced amusing. At least in a movie like, say, Evil Dead, people are taken over by evil spirits that are bent on murdering everything in sight, and they HAVE to be killed in gruesome ways. FD2 is just full of nice people, who have done nothing more evil than avoid a car accident, getting destroyed in the sickest and most painful ways possible. There's no satisfaction in that, it's just sick and mean-spirited. So while it is entertaining, FD2 is definitely not a must-see movie. If you like bad movies, there are plenty out there that are way more entertaining than this one, without all the senseless gore.