|
will be the first to admit that the storyline and mumbo
jumble in "Final Destination 2" is probably too convoluted and at the
same time too simplistic for its own good. Having said that, I must also confess
that the film is a stroke of near genius, and the credit goes entirely to
director David R. Ellis. "Final Destination 2" is 90 minutes of
intensity, blood and gore, races against time, and enough hokey New Age
meditations on death and destiny and preordained fate to choke an incredulous
elephant.
Although the screenplay purports to have very close ties
with the original (and in fact the survival/death of the sequel's characters all
have origins in the survival/death of the cast of the first), I couldn't tell
you if it all makes sense or not, since I haven't seen the first. That out of
the way, "Final Destination 2" opens with Kimberly (A.J. Cook) and
some friends heading out to Daytona Beach for summer break (from school, I would
imagine, although the movie never tells us if Kimberly even goes to school).
Before they even make it onto the freeway, Kimberly gets a premonition of a
deadly care pile up in which she and numerous others dies. Snapping out of the
vision, Kimberly makes such a commotion that she ties up a group of people
waiting to get onto the freeway, thus unwittingly saving their lives.
Being that Death hates being cheated, he/it begins to come
after them one by one. Luckily our resourceful heroine Kimberly knows about the
events that transpired in the original "Final Destination" and seek
help from Clear Rivers (Ali Larter), the only survivor from the original. Clear
has locked herself away in a mental institution in an attempt to further escape
her fate, and comes back into the world only to help Kimberly and the survivors
fight back against the unseen but ever present force that is Death. But as the
saying goes, the only sure things in life are Death and taxes, and Death is a
lot meaner than the I.R.S.
The trick about watching a film like "Final
Destination 2" is to pay attention when there is almost no dialogue in the
scenes, and to look the other way when characters stand around talking. The
screenplay is, for lack of a better description, overreaching. The film's
reference to Death as if it was some casino card dealer or huckster trying to
sell snake oil out of the back of a wagon takes the cake. Whenever the
characters got together to discuss fate and Death and their elaborate plans to
cheat both, you can't help but smirk. It's that kind of screenplay.
The real star of "Final Destination 2" is
director David Ellis, who shows an abundance of ability and talent with the
camera, and an innate understanding of elaborate choreography. Working with
cinematographer Gary Capo, the duo maneuvers and arranges the kill scenes in
such a way that I've only seen John Woo do with his gun battles. The word
balletic comes to mind. There's such a terrific understanding of camera angles,
of the need to build tension with each subsequent frame, and the tick-tock of
approaching death that "Final Destination 2" is a joy to watch
whenever its character shut up long enough for Death to take over.
Which isn't to say the rest of "Final Destination
2" is a chore to watch. Even if the explanations are all a little kooky,
and you can't understand how these people could possibly accept such ludicrous
explanations so easily, the cast still acts in such a way that doesn't
completely undermine them as flesh and blood human beings. The only weak link in
the main casting is Ali Larter ("American
Outlaws"), who looks entirely out of place and not up to the task.
Maybe she's doing what we're doing, namely wondering what she's doing in this
sequel at all.
On the other hand, A.J. Cook provides a nice center as the
young woman trying desperately to keep herself and others alive at all costs.
She finds help from Burke (Michael Landes), another survivor of the would-be
accident. The movie takes great creative license with Burke's status as a State
Trooper by having him do, and is able to get away with, things that would defy
his job description. Nevertheless, the screenplay should be commended for not having the two
leads meet and fall madly in love in the space of a couple of sequences, as is
the want in these types of movies. Now if they had only shown this restraint
when it came to the whole "Death's design" angle...
Let me make it clear: "Final Destination 2" is
nothing special, but my oh my is it fun to watch. The exhilarating and
clever direction of relative newcomer David Ellis overcomes the movie's
crackerjack screenplay, which is not always easy to do. Most of the times a poor
script is enough to sink a movie. "Final Destination 2" proves to be
the exception, and is, easily, better than the original.
|
