dir. Ellis

Opens Fri Jan 31

Various Theaters

No, Final Destination 2 does not have good acting, nor a compelling plot. It does not blur the lines of reality or explore the dark reaches of the director's mind. All it has to offer you is awesome killing.

The film starts out with four cardboard characters in their early twenties, driving off in a brand-new Chevy Tahoe for spring break in Daytona. The main girl, Kimberly, is wearing those colored contacts that make people look like aliens, and her best friend is a skanky blonde who makes not-funny sex jokes to Kimberly's dad when they're packing up the car. ("Hey Kim, can we go pick up the guys, I'm getting horny.") One of the guys they're traveling with is a stereotypical stoner, and the other guy might be seen wearing a hockey jersey.

The four are rolling down the interstate on-ramp in the Tahoe; old boy in the back is getting hizigh on a jizoint, and blondie is putting on lip gloss when--uh-oh Kimberly has a horrendous vision. She sees everyone on the ramp dying in the worst/best car crash in 23 years. It's fucking rad. This logging truck loses all its logs and the giant flying logs go smashing through people's windshields, taking heads with them. One guy burns alive, and even Kimberly herself gets squished/blown up by a fiery semi-cab that comes careening down the highway.

Now, if you've seen Final Destination 1, you can probably guess what happens next. After Kimberly blocks the ramp, preventing everyone from dying in the wreck, death gets pissed off and comes looking for them. And another round of killing begins; look for impalements, beheadings, a totally killer sandwiching, and expensive explosions. Maybe it's because the film is directed by a stunt man, but almost every time someone gets killed, you're caught off-guard. A minute earlier, you might have thought the mom was going to be electrocuted, but--Gotcha!--suddenly she's being flattened by a falling rock.

What I loved most about Final Destination 2 is that it takes no prisoners. You feel sorry for one character as they scream, "I don't want to die," but does the film give them any sympathy? NO! HA! They get their head ripped off just like everyone else. It's great.