Final Destination 2

  • Review Date: July 20, 2003
  • R
  • Genre: Horror
  • 2003
 Review

Common Sense Media says

Gruesome, ridiculous, really bad waste of time.
greenON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
yellowPAUSE: Know your child; some content
may not be right for some kids.
redOFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
not for kidsNOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age.

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Quality
 
Sometimes media can be age appropriate but a real waste of time. Our star rating assesses the media's overall quality.

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Parents say

Kids say

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that this movie is very gory and that death is a meaningless event held up for entertainment value. Many of the accidents involve everyday items, which might lead some audience members to view their surroundings in a much different way. Several college age kids use drugs in a casual, off-hand manner that the other characters appear to accept. Parents in this movie seem unwilling to discuss possible peril with their children and are powerless to help their teens survive.

  • Over-the-top, inventively gruesome violence, extremely explicit and gory deaths of most main characters, near constant peril.
  • Brief non-sexual nudity, references to casual sex among college students and a pornography collection
  • Strong language

What's the story?

If you saw the first Final Destination, or even just the preview for this sequel, then you are familiar with the plot. A group of people know that they are going to die; what they do not know is how this untimely event is going to take place. It is for this "how" that the audience, eyes darting around the screen to pick out possibly lethal traps, stays riveted for most of the movie's 100 minute running time. As with the first movie, the premise is that we cannot escape death when our turn has come, so if we were meant to die in an accident but somehow skip this fate, then we are due another visit from death to correct the omission. In this case, strangers on the merge to the highway avoid death in the form of a fiery pile up due to the premonition of the pretty but uninteresting, Kimberly (A.J. Cook). While still congratulating themselves for not dying, the survivors begin to fall victim to a string of bizarre accidents. Kimberly seeks out the sole survivor from those fated to die in Final Destination, Clear Rivers (Ali Larter), who has some helpful things to say but cannot stop the body count from rising.


Is it any good?

 

Not bothering with everyday movie conventions like plot, acting, or logic, this wisp of a sequel found its competitive advantage in Final Destination and pursued it with gleeful abandon. The first movie took the time to follow teen horror flick conventions, to develop characters -as thin as they were - and to throw in some theories about why all these people were dying. In the second movie, all these time-fillers are skipped and the movie becomes a heaping helping of mind-boggling mayhem. FINAL DESTINATION 2 asks why it should bother with the parsley of plot, dialogue, or characters, when people just want a plateful of death.

In many ways, tunneling all of the sequel's energies into a smorgasbord of imaginative deaths works better than the heavy-handed "suspense" of the original film. The acting is mediocre at best. Do they solve the riddle in time? Few will care, considering that there is no reason to like any of the characters and the main thrill of the movie comes from the elaborate nature of the deadly accidents. If this movie is supposed to be a scary thriller, then it flies far of the mark. If, however, Final Destination 2 seeks to take us no further than bloody spectacle, then it does a fine job indeed.


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What families can talk about

Families can talk about the characters' different reactions to surviving the accident, and facing the continuing danger to themselves. One of the characters proclaims that he is the master of his own fate and that therefore he will not die. Parents might discuss this concept of fate and the role of our own actions to influence our futures.


This review was written by Nell Minow
Teen, 16 years old
June 17, 2010
 
Not for Under 10
I love this movie it is great for 14+ but some issues for younger. Some nudity not bad. Messages are hard to understand like how Alex dies from the first movie they should have shown that but other than that its great!

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Adult
April 9, 2008
 
...
I LOVED the first Final Destination, and the sequel was good. But this is *definitely* not for kids. VERY gory.

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Teen, 14 years old
December 12, 2011
 
Meh.
It was ok but nothing to scream and go and tell all your mates about. The gore was not very believable and it was kind of rubbish. At one point one of them dies because a ladder impales their eye but there was definitely enough time for him to move out the way but he just lay there while the ladder came towards his face -_- Definitely not the best of the films but a good watch.

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Teen, 14 years old
September 17, 2011
 
Pretty okay
This movie was pretty good. I think it was really harsh that they killed Tim (the kid who got crushed by the window) It looked sorta impossible but I guess the director has quite an "imagination" I think if you kids want to watch horror movies start them off with the classics/comedic ones such as scream, the ring,the uninvited, FD 1(although I would skip the scene where that kids head is cut in 2 by that sheet of metal) I would introduce the FD franchise at around 13-14. If it was my sister watching these I would start with the first one and see if she could handle it. It really depends on how strong of a stomach you've got. Quick question, doesn't it seem like the characters have no bones when they die? At least in the first 4?

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Parent
September 14, 2011
 
Scary and smart
Better than the first.The two goriest scenes are when the boy is crushed by a pane and a woman is impaled through the head by a pole.A breif scene of nudity ad extreme vilence.

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Adult
November 20, 2010
 
too bloody
i love this movie so much i think its too bloody and dangerous for kids under 16 12 year olds will enjoy it sometimes

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Parent
January 7, 2010
 
Final Destination 2
Its not a bad movie, but not even a close comparison to the first.

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Kid, 12 years old
November 22, 2011
 
Final destination 2 not as good as final destination 1
This movie was not good. This movie is like the first final destination except it took place on a highway. This movie aint good because it dosent have any good details characters violent accidents. Dont buy this movie on DVD or blu-ray just watch it on FX

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Teen, 15 years old
August 22, 2011
 
Okay, But Not for Any Kids.

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Teen, 15 years old
March 27, 2011
 
for mature teen
gory

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This review was written by Nell Minow
Studio:New Line
Director:David R. Ellis
Cast:A.J. Cook, Ali Larter, Michael Landes
Genre:Horror
Run time:100 minutes
Theatrical release date:January 31, 2003
DVD release date:July 22, 2003
MPAA rating:R
MPAA explanation:strong violent/gruesome accidents, language, drug content and some nudity

This review was written by Nell Minow
 

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About our rating system
ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids.
OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
Learning ratings
BEST: Really engaging, great learning approach.
GOOD: Pretty engaging, good learning approach.
FAIR: Somewhat engaging, OK learning approach.
NOT FOR LEARNING: Not recommended for learning.

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