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Final Destination 2! This is the second video in my "RECAP" series on YouTube where I recap and review movies, anime, tv shows, and more. Going through the Final Destination series again is interesting to say the least, especially when looking at these films with a more critical eye.
Like the Final Destination 1 post, I'm still very interested in what people think about this film.
What made this movie substantially different than the first one, was the fact that the main characters weren’t connected at all before the crash. In Final Destination, the main characters were all students that went to the same school, so it was natural for them to meet up multiple times after the accident and we were able to see actual relationships built between them. However, in Final Destination 2, all the main characters didn’t know each other, so a lot of the movie is split up between each of these characters in their normal lives, before they actually meet up later on. I’m not quite sure which way I enjoyed better, but I was glad to see a different set of characters opposed to your typical high school stereotypes that was in the first film.
Our reintroduction to Mr. Bludworth shows that he knows Kimberly’s name, without her saying anything. This makes us assume that Bludworth is the personified death throughout the series, the only issue with this, is that he doesn’t make an appearance throughout any of the other films until Final Destination 5. Also it has been confirmed by the producers that he isn’t the personified death. I think if they had played with this idea, it would have brought more value to his character, nevertheless, Tony Todd’s performance is eerily done well.
At one point the characters talk about times that had cheated death before and Clear says that there was a ripple through death’s design after the survivors from the first film didn’t die in the plane explosion. Her conclusion is that death is moving backwards so that he can tie up loose ends in his design. I really feel as if this is just a plot hole, because it really doesn’t make any sense. If death’s design is rippling out, that means it is hitting a ton of people and no amount of going backwards here should really be able to fix this. If this was a realistic representation of a ripple, then it would at some point just fizzle out, however, since the main characters in this film has cheated death, then it has caused another ripple, which basically just causes an extreme clusterf*** in death’s design, which will end up causing a lot of premature deaths in the long run. Honestly, I don’t know how death is gonna get his control back.
The deaths in this film were a lot better than the previous one. There was still a lot of foreshadowing, which we get used to as the series continues, but this time, a lot of the deaths just happen instantly and out of nowhere. Also seeing Clear actually end up dying, while it sucks for those who were happy that she made it out of the first film, it does help the continuity in the series, considering that everyone does end up dying at the end of the day.
At the end of the film we realize that Kimberly and Thomas are both still alive. Did they really cheat death? Or just like Alex and Clear, will they end up dead later in the series? (*post edit - turns out that they do die, but it's only shown in a newspaper clipping on the dvds)
The acting, much like the first, was actually pretty well done. I feel as if Ali Larter did an even better portrayal as Clear, you kind of see her spaced out for most of the movie, which sounds weird at first, but actually makes for a great portrayal considering the fact that she has been in a crazy house for half a year, pretty much avoiding everything and everybody. The main cast were all unique in their own ways, and as horror films go, the stereotypes were played well, without being too overtly stereotypical.
The cinematography wasn’t as great as the first, though you can’t complain about too much foreshadowing and not enough cinematography at the same time. Since the foreshadowing isn’t nearly as much in this one, there wasn’t as many cinematic shots, though the ones that there were, was still done nicely. It’s definitely a film that was polished in the editing room.
Once again, as a horror film, it really just plays off of the fact that it can be unpredictable at times with the occasional jump scare and it has blood and gore, though other than that, it is definitely more so a thriller with some suspense than anything else.
In the end, if you enjoyed Final Destination 1, you’re sure to enjoy Final Destination 2, maybe even more than the first. The death scenes were more thought out and the over all story had a satisfying ending. The brought together to two films nicely, without making it a terrible sequel (like most movie sequels end up being). I still find the movie enjoyable and I’m looking forward to Final Destination 3.
Last edited by ZachSnyderProd; 09-04-17 at 10:35 PM.
