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Friday, December 18, 2015

Jack Frost 2: Revenge of the Mutant Killer Snowman Review


Disclaimer: Contains spoilers!

Plot Summary: Jack Frost is back, and this time his revenge takes him to an island getaway.

Review: Understanding this film is fairly easy-- simply take everything positive about part one and remove it. Now, I obviously went easy on the first movie due to its over the top nature, but it's as if they were not trying at all this time around. That amusing charm and humor is gone and replaced with cheap ass effects, terrible film quality, and nonsensical ideas. Probably the most egregious offense is the lackluster defeat of Jack Frost himself. I didn't even realize he was fully defeated, because of how feebly it was presented. There was a fun-factor to part one that was sorely missing, and this effected the entire experience as a whole.

The movie starts off with some shady company wanting the remains of Jack Frost, for whatever reason, and digs him up. They proceed to unceremoniously kill off "idiot" who inadvertently resurrects JF. Oh come on! At the same time, the sheriff from part one is struggling to move on from the killer snowman experience so he, his wife, and two characters from part one head off for a tropical Christmas wherever; there is something about a wedding, but this is inconsequential. They hype up the newer characters, but most get killed right away. JF looks like complete shit, and they clearly lacked the budget to handle their own premise. The kills are stupid, the jokes are lame, and JF has magically grown immune to antifreeze. For no discernible reason, however, when JF is hit with antifreeze it makes him multiply in a terrible "Gremlins" wannabe way. The only way to save the day is with bananas. Yes...bananas. Supposedly the sheriff's DNA was mixed with JF's, and the sheriff is allergic to bananas so...there we go. At the end, just as JF is going to kill the sheriff's wife, the sheriff pops up with a banana arrow that instantly kills JF. It took me a while before I realized they were sticking with that single banana as the final blow to JF. Pitiful. During the credits there is a scene with JF attacking a ship in a terrible "Godzilla" reference but whatever, dude. There was never a part 3 so that cliffhanger is never going to be realized.

I don't blame them for wanting to continue on despite an obviously shrunken budget, but the passion and fun is clearly absent. Instead of so-bad-it's-good this is plain bad and hard to sit through. Most of the amusing aspects of the first movie were ridiculous, but they successfully made the events feel natural given the context. Here, they couldn't replicate that formula, and the setups are forced in the worst of ways. I mean, the main characters see JF killing people and still think it has nothing to do with JF? What? Or no one questions why a snowstorm is hitting a tropical island? There is a big difference between being funny with the material and being completely retarded. This movie deserves an even lower score than I'm giving it, but it did have one slightly redeeming moment...well, redeeming for me at least!

Notable Moment: Some random, hot Asian girl appears out of nowhere, strips, and then dies immediately. Not sure what was the point, or where the hell this girl was at since the beginning, but ALL movies would benefit from the inclusion of such a scene (minus the dying part preferably) even if it makes absolutely zero sense in the context. Like, imagine how much better "Lord of the Rings" would have been if they just randomly cut away from Frodo to a poolside striptease?!

Final Rating: 4/10

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