Not nearly as bad as the first movie

Rating: 6/10 (28 November 2009)

This movie was so much better than the first piece of garbage, that I have to give it a relatively decent rating. I went in with low expectations, partly from the bad reviews I've been reading, and also just knowing how weak the second book's plot line is compared with the rest of the series. I was pleasantly surprised with this film.
The makeup and special effects were better, there was more humor and more action, lots of sex appeal. The musical score was also better. All in all, this director did a great job with a poor source material. He turned that junky 2nd book into something relatively amusing, that didn't feel torturous or like a total waste of time.
I was thoroughly entertained for about 1.5 hours out of the 2 hours. Unfortunately the movie jumps from really high action to suddenly slow (and unnecessary) dialogue sequences which just plod along. The movie is incredibly faithful to the book, including all major and minor characters and same plot outline. I don't recommend it unless you are a fan of the series or have low expectations as I did.