A lot better the second time around

Rating: 6/10 (11 August 2006)

The first time I saw this movie, I was really disappointed - it just seemed like a frenetic (and incredibly long!) series of action set-pieces, trying too hard to cash in on popular catchphrases from its predecessor, and entirely lacking in the overall direction, coherence and character development which was present in the first film. Probably expecting too much from it, I was bored and unengaged.
Second time around, though, it was actually very enjoyable. Once you know what's going to happen, you can start to see how it all fits together. The plot is still pretty slender, and most of the characters are much more cardboardy and less interesting than the first time round, but if you know that before you go in and don't expect too much, it's good fun. Worth seeing, at least as a precursor to film 3.