The original Final Destination is no grand pinnacle in cinema, or even horror films, but it does a few things right. Its follow-up is again no grand treasure, but a pretty effective continuation of the first and one that tries to loop back into the mythos of the first. Final Destination 2's main draw is the focus on elaborate deaths no doubt, but it almost taps into some of the humanity of the first. Moreso than those killer logs in the first act anyway.
The big forewarned death scene in this film is one of the best action/horror/carnage scenes ever in my opinion. If there is anything Mythbusters has taught me it is that a car is not likely to explode unless it is loaded up with a few hundred gallons of gasoline and some primer cord. I don’t think the makers of this film saw that episode. It’s still pretty awesome though.
Anyways, Kimberly (A.J. Cook) is on her way to a spring break blast with a few friends in tow when she has a vision of a massive traffic accident which claims the lives of dozens in pretty gnarly, if improbable, ways. A bunch of oddly bouncy logs break from a flat-bed trailer. They impale drivers, crash into other cars with fiery explosions, or simply cause massive fireballs out of non-flammable diesel gas. Whatevs. But it’s a dream. Or is it? If anything, FD2 has one of the more rewatchable eight minutes of film ever if you are entertained by senseless violence. I am, if that hasn’t been made apparent yet.
After Kimberly “saves” the lives of a few people by blocking their entry to the death’s interstate (her poorly established friends notwithstanding), the saved laugh and scoff at her premonition. “Ha, what a looney! She thinks she saved us from imminent death even though we clearly would have died if we were on that road. Witch!” It’s not as much crap as Devon Sawa gets in the first one, but that’s one thing that always bothered me about these films. Let’s outright blame the person who saved us from being mincemeat the first time. Brilliant strategy!
Director David R. Ellis and a smorgasbord of screenwriters do their best to emulate the tone of the first film but to no avail. The characters are not as deep, the scenarios are outrageously over-the-top, and they even bring Ali Larter back from the nuthouse to guide these poor souls as they get eviscerated by whatever Death (or God or whomever) throws their way. There were some moments in the first film that threatened to be deep philosophical discussions but that was mostly glossed over when a new body hit the floor. There is not as much depth in the conversations here.
This time, instead of pondering the whys about death, Kimberly, Clear, Officer Burke (Michael Landes), et al. are busy figuring out why things are different this time around with Death going in reverse chronological order when claiming its victims. The explanation that these victims were indirectly tied to those from the first is pretty out there but actually ties in nicely with the first film. But since the characters are not as complex as before, they are offset with death scenes that make up for it. Truth be told, most are actually pretty cool especially a couple in the back half of the film. Although, for characters who should have died in a massive car accident, they have no qualms about getting into a car again. Weird.
So, the action and the Rube Goldberg-y (this is mentioned in every other FD review so who am I to argue?) death scenes are quite enjoyable. As well as the gore; there is a fair amount of gore. But, the story feels rusty in just the second installment like a wheel about to fling off and tear you a new one. It’s not as solid a supernatural flick as the first, but it has its moments all the same.
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