Final Destination 2 (2003)

Director:

David R. Ellis

Writers (WGA):

J. Mackye Gruber (screenplay) &
Eric Bress (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

31 January 2003 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

It's not over yet...

Plot:

When Kimberly has a violent premonition of a highway pileup she blocks the freeway, keeping a few others meant to die, safe...Or are they? The survivors mysteriously start dying and it's up to Kimberly to stop it before she's next.

Plot Keywords:

Death | Premonition | Hospital | Car Accident | Freak Accident

Awards:

4 nominations

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Ali Larter	...	Clear Rivers
A.J. Cook	...	Kimberly Corman
Michael Landes	...	Thomas Burke
David Paetkau	...	Evan Lewis
James Kirk	...	Tim Carpenter
Lynda Boyd	...	Nora Carpenter
Keegan Connor Tracy	...	Kat
Jonathan Cherry	...	Rory
Terrence 'T.C.' Carson	...	Eugene Dix (as T.C. Carson)
Justina Machado	...	Isabella Hudson
Tony Todd	...	Mr. Bludworth
Sarah Carter	...	Shaina
Alejandro Rae	...	Dano (as Alex Rae)
Shaun Sipos	...	Frankie
Andrew Airlie	...	Mr. Corman

Also Known As:

Destination Ultime 2 (Canada: French title)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violent/gruesome accidents, language, drug content and some nudity.

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA | Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Singapore:M18 | Iceland:16 | USA:R (No. 39566) | Malaysia:18SG | South Korea:18 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Portugal:M/16 | Belgium:KNT | Canada:18A (Canadian Home Video rating) | Argentina:13 | Australia:MA | Denmark:15 | Finland:K-18 | France:-12 | Germany:16 | Hong Kong:IIB | Ireland:18 | Japan:R-15 | Netherlands:12 (original rating) | Netherlands:16 (DVD rating) | New Zealand:R16 | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:NC-16 (re-rating) | Singapore:PG (original rating) | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:16 (canton of the Grisons) | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Campbell River, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

New Line Cinema

Trivia:

When Nora tucks Tim in at night, dimming the lights, his face is illuminated with a skull outline, and can be better seen when the scene dissolves into the next, foreshadowing his death.

Goofs:

Continuity: At the beginning, when they first get into the car, Kimberly's blonde friend has a few thin braids in her hair. A short while later later, her hair has no braids.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Host: Tomorrow marks the one-year anniversary since Velez Air Flight 180 exploded and crashed shortly after takeoff from JFK airport. It's a disaster that's affected many. None more so than Mt. Abraham High School, which lost 40 students and 4 faculty members in the crash...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Chainsaw Redux: Making a Massacre (2004) (V)

Soundtrack:

Middle of Nowhere

Shock Value -- 7 (Good Flick)

You know that feeling you get when you're watching America's Funniest Home Videos and the oblivious son hits his hapless father in the crotch with an aluminum bat? It gets a quick reaction, like, ooh, I feel your pain man.

FINAL DESTINATION 2 is a 90 minute or so string of those painful shots, as each character one by one meets an unfortunate death by household appliance. Bodies are slammed by trucks, heads are impaled, and limbs fly through the air -- in other words, things that make you go "oooh!" When one of the characters dies when her car's airbag explodes out of nowhere, my eyes hiccuped with a "Yeah! Wow, did they do that??? Yeah, they DID do that. Right on!"

Although the film has a very serious atmosphere about it, what with the creepy score and people sincerely freaking out and everything, it still retains a campy humor about it buried beneath its high-budget exterior. Many movies would shy away from smashing up plastic ketchup-filled dummies, opting instead to avoid the gore. Not FINAL DESTINATION 2! This movie is an honest approach to movie-making, hearkening back to the day when you got together with friends and said, "Okay, in this scene we cut to the dummy falling off the building, it's run over by a Mack truck, and it splatters chunks of blood all over that Oldsmobile over there."

As for the premise behind FINAL DESTINATION 2, how do I put it into words? A.J. Cook has premonitions that people died in a nasty pileup on the highway. Thing is, this never happened. And ... she continues to have premonitions that those same people will die in due time. Those people eventually die. Did I get that right? The universal law of nature is that, well, Death sometimes misses its mark and has to fix its mistakes (which usually involves electrical equipment getting wet and other freak accidents of home improvement). If this all sounds convoluted, watch the movie. You'll see what I mean.

The premise of FINAL DESTINATION 2, as much potential as it might have, doesn't make much sense and is pretty hokey, but if you medicate your inquisitive mind with heavy sedatives, you'll be able to look past the flimsy premise and enjoy the movie. I'm definitely looking forward to a Final Destination 3.

JY

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