MIRRORS 2

Max Matheson is undergoing therapy with a psychologist following a tragic car accident that cost the life of his girlfriend. Max was driving and therefore feels responsible for the accident. His feelings of guilt manifest in terrible visions that torment him. To bring him back to reality, his father, director of Mayflowers, an upcoming shopping center, assigns him the task of playing the role of night watchman, as the old watchman resigned following a mysterious incident. Max, however, begins to see strange things in the building, particularly in the mirrors, thinking it's always the memory of his girlfriend. When the shopping center staff start dying in strange domestic accidents, Max begins to suspect that there is indeed something supernatural at Mayflowers. The macabre adventures involving the world beyond the mirrors begin in 2003, in a little-known (but appreciable) Korean film titled "Into the Mirror". The recent American cannibalistic tradition gives birth to a 2008 remake, "Riflessi di paura", by professional recycler Alexandre Aja. But surprise! Aja and his faithful screenwriter Grégory Levasseur made a film that, apart from something here and there, had nothing to do with the inspirer. An almost original idea, therefore, that was a bit cramped in the crowded cauldron of remakes. Two years later, 20th Century Fox launched a sequel that "adjusts the aim" and thus we have a "Riflessi di paura 2" that cancels any connection with Aja's film and presents itself as a true remake of "Into the Mirror". A ghost story without particular scenes that rather faithfully follows the plot thought for the Korean film. Uselessness? Well, yes, it's once again the case of appealing to the lack of ideas that is afflicting Hollywood and pushing studios to dig into foreign or past filmographies. The case of "Riflessi di paura 2" is particular, since one could have continued with the new mythology created by Aja to explore new scenarios and instead one regresses by returning to the inspiration model, which is a bit the same old story of the resentful ghost that we have seen in so many versions of all nationalities. In "Riflessi di paura 2" everything is so directly to video that there is no doubt about the destination of the product. There is a pseudo star as the protagonist, Nick Stahl, who, despite some blockbusters on his resume ("Sin City"; "Terminator 3") never really managed to break through; a pretty girl who is now conquering the reputation of scream queen, Emmanuelle Vaugier ("Saw II"; "Cacciatori di Zombie"), as co-protagonist; a director now linked to home video productions, Victor Garcia ("Return to House on Haunted Hill"; "Hellraiser: Revelations"), at the helm. In short, there is mediocrity in the genetic code from which "Riflessi di paura 2" originated and watching the film confirms this. The strong point of this sequel is the substantial dose of splatter that curiously explodes at some moments. There are at least two scenes, in fact, that abound in hemoglobin and in the spectacularization of death and that alone are worth watching the film; one in particular, namely the decapitation by means of the glass of the shower cabin at the expense of a naked girl, who before the unfortunate end reserves us a long and generous nude scene of those that are rare nowadays. For the rest, "Riflessi di paura 2" is a film that drags itself weakly and without scenes that are not widely predictable even for those who have not seen the original Korean film. Here and there some visual intuition strikes, like the rotating panoramic outside and inside the mirror that shows us a "solid" world in which movements generate cracks, but nothing that is really memorable. The absurd ending perhaps foreshadows a number 3, but given the impersonality and lack of a strong idea of this chapter 2, we should not expect anything positive. "Riflessi di paura 2" is certainly watchable, but it is forgotten really too quickly to leave a mark.