The surprise cinema hit of 2000 was without doubt the brilliant and morbid Final Destination. Once Devon Sawa has a premonition that the plane he’s about to board will crash, he ensures that he and numerous others survive the fateful tragedy and live to fight another day. However, as it goes, that ’another day’ is much closer than they think. Slowly but surely the surviving cast members are killed off in sick ways each worse than the previous, but boy is it fun. Yes I’m morbid and a strong lover of the horror genre, but Final Destination truly did take the cake. Surviving member Clear Rivers (Ali Larter) was the sole survivor of Death’s order, yet with a new twist and new set of ‘victims’, she’s soon cheating death again. Final Destination took the genre places it hadn’t dared go previously, the question however, was how much further could the sequel push it ?!
“For every beginning there is an end….”
Having seen this film upon it’s cinema release, it shows you the effect that a true piece of suspense can have on an audience. Numerous people either jumping from their seats or clinging to the person in the next seat, all because one mans genius of a death scene came to fruition. The death scenes are nothing short of fantastic
- window panes, ladders, hell even pigeons, all play their part in some way or another. The modern genre has been plagued by a recent long line of poor flicks, each labelled as suspense filled and quoted as ’superb’ , yet if you want real suspense that is genuinely deserving of superb then Final Destination 2 hit’s the spot every time.
“An exhilarating thrill ride”
Kimberley (A J Cook) has, as Sawa did two years earlier, a premonition of a highway pile up before it happens. She knows that she and her friends, as well as numerous others, will perish in a scene that has to rate as one of top individual movie scenes of recent years. Of course with the news of Flight 180 still fresh in the mind, as soon as the first victim meets his maker, word gets round of Rivers existence inside a local nut house and the possibility that she may be the only one that can prevent what’s on the horizon. Cook does a more than valiant attempt at the lead role, conveying the emotion with enough to keep you interested (personal note - she’s hot), but in fairness, this movie is run by the effects department, not the cast. It’s more the genius of ones mind than the effects themselves, a twisted mind that has invented some of the best singular death scenes ever seen in cinema, whilst being genuinely chilling at the same time.
“A gripping ghoulish giggle”
Cabin Fever, Wrong Turn, 28 Day’s Later, I could go on naming films that had so much promise yet delivered so little. Poor acting, weak scripts all contribute to flunking a film before it’s hit the screen, but with the success of the first Final Destination film, the sequel was a sure fire hit, even had it been poor. The promise was there, the able young cast was in place and the script was pretty good - but as a package, Final Destination 2 simple blows the mind. Shocks, suspense, blood-a-plenty, all what the horror genre badly needed after a poor couple of years of over-rated trash (with the exception of Texas Chainsaw Massacre) but this was a much needed and well received kick up the butt. The tragedy of it all is that there is to be no third instalment to this near perfect franchise, with studio bosses simply dismissing any consideration of it, although with this to live up to - who’d blame them.
“High octane horror”
As an avid fan of the horror genre, preferring the likes of Nightmare On Elm Street to most of the modern trash, FD2 was not only a pleasant discovery, yet it also opened my eyes to the fact that there are some great modern films, there just not given the ‘media’ attention that these high roller blockbusters get. The likes of Cabin Fever etc, simply don’t make the grade when compared to the relatively small fish (financially) of Final Destination, Blade and Resident Evil, three films that offer more than enough thrills and spills to go around. Anyway. back to the film in question. Final Destination 2 is, without wishing to heap to much praise on it, a gem, a cracker, a masterpiece of cinematic beauty, a film done the way they should be done, with the audience in mind. Too many production companies concentrate on the dollar, and more importantly how much they can make rather than building a following through making great films.
“A slash above the original”
These days a lot of movies are hit or miss on special effects, with a lot of directors doing away with the notion completely, as it may cloud how they see the film. Final Destination, with beautifully co-ordinated death scenes and a pile up to die for (pun intended) has all the special effects needed to be a success, and damn is it just that. The cast do their jobs as ably as could be expected, the storyline without doubt holds up, whilst feeding from the first film and the entertainment value is through the roof. Bonus material, another key element of the DVD ‘package’, is well represented here in the form of a generous amount of material ranging from film makers commentary to music videos and a lengthy documentary entitled ‘Cheating Death : Beyond And Back’, a rather interesting view. Combining the film with the extras …… the near perfect modern thriller package, without question.
“For every beginning there is an end”
CAST: CLEAR RIVERS - Ali Larter KIMBERLY CORMAN - A.J. Cook OFFICER THOMAS BURKE - Michael Landes EUGENE DIX - T.C. Carson RORY - Jonathan Cherry KAT - Keegan Connor Tracy SHAINA - Sarah Carter NORA CARPENTER - Lynda Boyd EVAN LEWIS - David Paetkau TIM CARPENTER - James Kirk MR. BLUDWORTH - Tony Todd ISABELLA HUDSON - Justina Machado MR. BLUDWORTH - Tony Todd DANO - Alex Rae FRANKIE - Shaun Sipos MR. CORMAN - Andrew Airlie ADMINISTRATOR - Christina Jastrzembska
www.deathiscoming.com
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For every beginning there is an end...Final Destination 2, the sequel to the hit 2000 ... more
supernatural thriller, finds Clear Rivers (Ali Larter) the only survivor of the crash of Flight 180. Locked away by her own choice in the perceived safety of a psychi...
![Final Destination 2 [DVD] [2003]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78513809.jpg "Final Destination 2 [DVD] [2003]")
Nov 12th, 2004
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