FINAL DESTINATION 2

Exactly one year has passed since the incident of flight 180 bound for Paris, and the mysterious story of the group of students who, having disembarked from the plane at the last moment following a premonition of one of them, were then decimated by a series of accidents so bizarre and inexplicable as to call into question the intervention of a supernatural force like that of Death. On the very anniversary of the air disaster, Kimberly and some of her friends leave for vacation, but shortly after departure, the girl has a disturbing vision: soon they will be involved in a road accident in which they will lose their lives. She then decides to stop, also preventing the cars behind her from participating in the deadly chain of collisions that unfolds before their eyes in a few minutes. The people saved by Kimberly will gradually realize that they have also ended up on Death's list, determined to take their lives, and between skepticism and fear will seek a way to save themselves, resorting to the help of the only survivor of the group of students from flight 180, Clear Rivers... One of the rules of modern cinema, so fond of repeating the box office successes of previous years with more or less expected sequels by the public, teaches that such films almost never reach the quality of the films that preceded them, losing themselves in atmospheres and situations already experienced, and distorting the concept that served as a solid framework for the original film. The case is that "Final Destination 2", at least on paper a horse not to bet on at all, turns out to be worthy of its predecessor and, a certainly unexpected thing, even superior to it in many respects. Despite the danger of repeating itself, which is, for a film with such a defined and cumbersome plot (centered on Death that inevitably wants the souls that are due to it, to the point of indulging in every way to have them), David R. Ellis's film manages to involve the viewer and leave them glued to the seat with bated breath for the entire duration. First of all, it immediately becomes evident the attempt to address a more mature audience compared to the previous film, finally sparing us the misadventures of a group of stupid and spoiled kids, preferring to include in Death's list a mother with her son, a policeman, a career woman with a chip on her shoulder, a skeptical and cynical motorcyclist, a poor boy who has just won the lottery, a clumsy and awkward drug addict. In short, a series of characters who, although also quite stereotyped, still allow us to breathe different situations from those that teen-horror movies continue to insistently propose (not coincidentally, those who seem at the beginning the usual annoying protagonists fly away after a few minutes run over by a truck!). Another strong point is the choice of a plot that, although linked to the narrative mechanisms of the previous film, is well studied and intelligently interwoven with the episodes of the first film, also giving some pleasant moments in which to use one's grey matter to seek an explanation for what is happening on the screen: a luxury to be taken into account, accustomed as we are to a sea of disposable films, all action and little brain. But action, in this "Final Destination 2", is also not lacking: the scenes in which Death returns to take what is due to it, although slightly (and intentionally) forced, are made in such a way as to anguish the viewer in the anxious wait to discover how and when the Black Lady will decide to strike. Each of these sequences would deserve to be mentioned for its rhythm, its originality, its mocking coherence, and the macabrely ironic way in which it was made. And if all the positive notes we have talked about so far did not exist (or had no reason to exist), "Final Destination 2" would still deserve the award for Best Horror Film of the Summer of 2003 for two excellent reasons. First of all, because, for the first time in recent years, the makers of a film destined for the general public have decided to go heavy with the crude scenes, (not caring about censorship and the threat of possible cuts), giving us some splatter, bloody, and gory sequences as we haven't seen in a long time (we're not at the levels of Peter Jackson, but for a film of this type, almost historical highs are reached!). And even more so because the film gives us a sequence destined to remain in the hearts of viewers for a long, long time: the spectacular scene of the road accident at the beginning of the film. It is impossible not to be petrified in front of the catastrophe that occurs before our eyes, it really seems to be in the middle of the disordered contorting of the metal sheets, guided by some of the most beautiful shots of car accidents ever: real, violent, desperate. A nightmare that hits us like a hammer in the stomach because it is a possible and concrete nightmare, in which we are all afraid to wake up. If we forgive the director the small lapse of style in the final sequence (in particular the last shot is really ridiculous, not at all in tune with the tense and syncopated tone of the film), we can certainly affirm that "Final Destination 2", although not an immortal film to be compared with horror masterpieces of much greater depth, hits the target on almost all fronts, gluing us to the screen as few films in recent months have managed to do.