Random Movie: [REC] 2 (2009)

The upside to having a terrible memory: I can see a film I’d only seen maybe once before years ago and not remember a damn thing about it. Downside to having a terrible memory: well, the same. It was not even a year ago that I watched and reviewed [REC] and while the main gist of the story and some of the bigger sequences still stick out, a lot of the movie is a total wash from my brain. Apparently, there was a religion angle in the first that I would have loved to have the faintest recollection of in watching [REC] 2. At the very least, the first twenty minutes would not have been so jarring.

Just like the original (and its remake Quarantine), [REC] 2 takes place inside an apartment building somewhere in Spain with this installment kicking into gear almost immediately after the first ends. The first wave of responders inside the building have not been heard from. A group of SWAT members are called in to escort a doctor inside to check the status. Let’s just say that things turn pretty bad quickly. Considering that they are going into a building filled with zombies/infected/whatever, this should not be surprising. What is surprising rather, is how quickly the sequel turns the original on its head. I would rather say “betrays the original” but that has a negative connotation that I don’t wish to imply.

I spoke of this on our latest podcast but “found footage” movies typically engage me in the story much more than traditional narratives. Except Diary of the Dead; I have to throw that caveat in there. For nothing else, seeing unrecognizable people in a pretty horrifying situation is more akin to seeing something unfold right outside your door than watching a movie. This film was no different. Given that it is a sequel literally starting from the end of its predecessor, there is really no build-up to the threat since it is assumed that we already know what is at stake. While this does not do some of the one-dimensional characters any good, it makes for an intense film since only a few minutes are spent with the characters not directly in harm’s way.

Well, intense except for the jarring halfway point of the movie in which I swear directors Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza were trying to emulate Romero’s disastrous found footage zombie-a-thon. In reading some other reviews, I suppose I understand the point to break away from the established characters but it did not work well in the context of the film. Again, without giving too much, the movie shifts from the SWAT group to a couple of kids and a fireman who break into the building. It is all well and good until the second group (in fairness, not really knowing what is going on inside) basically broadcasts their desire to be a zombie/infected/whatever buffet. They are stupid and worthless characters and really do nothing to help the story other than upping the victim potential.

While I was baffled at the direction the story took, it is done well to expand upon the original without resorting to just different people in the same situation. I question the worth of having a SWAT member exist solely to hold a camera and film the events but it has a good enough reason. Most everything else in the film is engrossing, especially with the various twists shown in the brief 80-odd minute runtime. It would seem that Spain has no shortage of talented actors that I haven’t seen before so that should bode well for the upcoming [REC] 3 and 4 even if (judging from this film’s release) we won’t see them for some time.