Final Destination 2 (2003)

Death comes again in 'Final Destination 2' but you all know the plot, especially if you're clicking on a horror review site such as this. This time around, the premonition of young Kimberly (A.J. Cook) prevents a horrific pile up (and in my opinion the best opening accident of the franchise) and death now comes for those she saved. She must rely on these strangers as they try to protect each other and prevent more horrific fatalities. From here on out, I really can't criticize one sequel without doing them all in some aspects for they will now have a more specific formula than even the most basic slasher flick. Premonition, accident prevention, deaths come one by one, some kind of specific gimmick prevents certain characters from seeing the pearly gates. This series gets pretty basic, but I think that's the charm of them. Like Jason or Freddy, the 'Destination' films are entertaining and you know exactly what you're getting into and when it's over, you can go about your life. It's very much a rollercoaster or any other amusement park ride and these reasons are why I can't really hate on these films as much as a lot of other people seem to do.

They're really stupid, yes and death seems to have a lot of rules for being such a omnipotent being but damn that guy getting killed by a pane of glass shoots adrenaline into your brain and gets you going for more. And speaking of the death scenes, '2' may have the best of the bunch, or at least enough to have the majority in any top 10 list. A nice mix of practical and cgi effects make these stand out well, with my personal favorite being the flying barbed wire fence gag. If you read my review of the original movie, you may have noticed that I had some more philisophical or meaningful aspects to discuss, sadly this is not the case with 'Final Destination 2' nor any of the sequels that would follow. It's simply a cheap thrill, cash grab movie that's meant to have its time in the sun for the weekend, then quietly bow out and there's nothing wrong with that but for those who are looking for something more, you aren't finding it with this franchise sorry.

Even most 'Friday' or 'Nightmare' films have some good characters, or some aspect to them that keep them higher up, however here you really are just here to see people die and little else. I recommend it for fans of the first film, as I think it's the best sequel but everybody else can do better.

TRIVIA:

-Clear from the original film returns here and is first seen in an mental institution. The set used was the same from 2002's 'Halloween Resurrection'.

-The character Tim was 9 years old in the original script, however New Line feared backlash and aged him up to 15. Killing full grown adults are okay though...

-Devon Sawa, who portrayed Alex in the original film was set to return here, however disputes over his contract led to his absence and a really lame and insulting off-screen death (brick fell on his head.)

-One character has refrigerator magnets which spell out 'HEY E'. His death is predicted by these when the 'H' falls off and spells 'EYE'.