Final Call

So we flipped a coin, heads for Punch Drunk Love and tails for Final Destination 2. The fickle finger of death's design chose tails, and we headed to screen 6.

Like in the first one, several good looking young people escape death via a premonition. The movie bludgeons into us that it was "death's design" that they are meant to die, so one by one, in a series of bizarre accidents, they start dying. Horribly and unbelievably. From the original, Clear Rivers (Ali Larter) is back and looking great, plus some other nobodies are present.

I enjoyed the first one. I liked the way that the original actor's were played against type (gay Jack from Dawson's Creek is the hard case, Sean Scott Willams (frat boy Schiffler from American Pie) plays the dweeb), I liked the way that director James Wong cranked up the tension and served us plate after plate of red herrings.

Part 2 starts well, with hints and signs (truck driver drinking beer, wet road, kid smashing his toy cars together) leading to an exciting kinetic pile up, with car after lorry after motorbike after car smashing into each other and blowing up. But it's all a premonition. Kimberly (A.J.Cook) saves a load of people, then it all starts going down hill. Death's design starts taking the piss. Without as much as a gust of wind, doors just close and windows shut. Ornaments fall from the ceiling and vital hospital machines just start rolling away. Death in Final Destination 2 drew it's design with crayons. The deaths are outlandish and ludicrous. Everyone in this movie is made of balloons full of blood. When something hits you, instead of falling over you explode in a shower of red CGI.

Maybe the director David R Ellis is taking the piss, because I started laughing after the 15 year old kid gets it. Maybe the writers J. Mackye Gruber, Eric Bress and Jeffrey Reddick are taking the piss with the lame dialogue. Sample: "What is death's design?" "This is death's design" "We have to beat death's design" "She told me about death's design" "I don't believe in death's design" "death's what?" "death's design" "death's design" "death's design" "death's design" "death's design" DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT WE ARE TRYING TO SAY!!!!!! Oh and the Candy Man (Tony Todd) drops in for the sole reason of explain the ending (not very well and also why doesn't Clear Rivers die in the padded cell with the TV exploding or the building being burnt down with her in it? Death's design is full of bugs. Also doesn't the cop have a day job? Doesn't anyone have anything to do apart from talk like idiots about pop mythology and the nature of fate?) It tries to explain, but just ties itself into knots.

Despite all this, it's always kinda entertaining to see beautiful people being killed in gory ways. It's a well polished B movie, fun and throw away. It's not crap enough to be great, but it's crap enough to be ok.