After the financial success of Final Destination in 2000 ($53 million domestic, $112 million worldwide), New Line Cinema went ahead with a sequel. Director James Wong and writers Glen Morgan and Jeffrey Reddick did not return, leaving the sequel with a new creative team in David R. Ellis and screenwriters Eric Bress and J. Mackye Gruber (the latter two had no other credits at the time). Final Destination 2 would become the worst box office performing entry in the franchise (but it did provide a death so memorable and emblematic of the series that it features prominently in the TV ads for the new Final Destination: Bloodlines).

Final Destination 2 begins with the terrible decision of having a crackpot talk show guest describe the grand design of death and how the events of the first film couldn’t possibly be a coincidence. It’s a clumsy device to remind audiences of the plot of the first film, but it also creates a story world where characters are hyper-aware of the premise of the film they are a part of. Almost immediately, the protagonist, Kimberly (A.J. Cook), connects the freak accident she just experienced on the highway with the plane crash from the first film. This is efficient storytelling, I suppose, but it also lazily yadda-yadda-yaddas the finer points of the series’ premise.

The premonition sequence of the second film is fairly well-done. Some of the visual effects don’t look the absolute cleanest, but it is fun to watch the geography of the highway unfold, introducing our cast of characters and delivering a few gnarly gags. And the end of it is a genuinely surprising turnabout.

David R. Ellis, the director, spent much of his career in the stunt world. It is fitting, then, that the staging and execution of this opening sequence is exciting. Some of the other set pieces are exciting, too, albeit more mildly so. Whether intentional or not, the death scenes are also far sillier than in the first film. This is mostly because the signposting of Death’s presence is much more obvious. As with the first film, some of the humor is intentional (see: toy fish in mouth), but the overall tone of the film is lacking in a light touch. This is, of course, save for Tony Todd, who reprises his mortician role. Todd brings the heat, but also amps up the silliness himself. But just a tad, enough to make his one-scene part more memorable than most of the set pieces. The man simply understands the assignment. A consummate professional.

The script occasionally has a tongue-in-cheek attitude. After a scene in which Ali Larter’s Clear Rivers (yes, her name is Clear Rivers) explains the flimsy rules of Death (Kimberly can see “visions” of what is about to happen, some of the time, but every character may see “signs” at any time, maybe, if they pay attention), a random Rube Goldberg event causes a kayak to careen toward Clear’s head. Clear’s response, after ducking to safety, is, “I should have seen that coming.” A funny joke. I stuck my dumb fat thumb up at the screen in approval instead of laughing.

These small reflexive nods aside, the script has no idea what to do with its tone. Maybe I’m just nit-picking it at this point, considering this franchise is at least trying for something more interesting than most 2000s-era American horror films were. But the follow-up to the above joke is a visceral depiction of decapitation by elevator door, culminating in a helpless woman pleading, “I don’t want to die.” Death shows no mercy, and everyone involved is scarred for the rest of their short lives.

Then, of course, there is the denouement scene, which is almost surreal in its absurd humor. It is hilarious, not only for its insane sight gag, but also for the insinuation that the major takeaway of this franchise’s premise should be to never save anyone from imminent danger under any circumstances, or hilarious retaliatory death will ensue later.

The half-hearted extension that Final Destination 2 makes from the first film is mostly perfunctory, but it also takes up a great deal of the short runtime. A lengthy scene explains how every character that cheated death in this film is connected in some way to those who cheated death in the first film. None of it really matters, because as soon as this scene finishes, the film ramps up its pacing considerably in order to reach a tight 90 minutes. Characters are knocked off in rapid succession and fairly unceremoniously. Instead of the isolated set pieces that accompany most deaths in the first film, this script kind of runs out of Rube Goldberg steam and just starts literally throwing things at its characters.

On the whole, Final Destination 2 provides a similar level of entertainment value as the first film. It is an inferior sequel, but anyone enjoying the first film will likely find enough to enjoy here, too.

Final Destination 2: C+

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As always, thanks for reading!

—Alex Brannan (Letterboxd, Facebook)