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[REC 2]
Plot:The action continues from [Rec], with the medical officer and a SWAT team outfitted with video cameras are sent into the sealed off apartment to control the situation.
Cast:Manuela Velasco,
Leticia Dolera,
Ferran Terraza,
Juli Fabregas,
Pep Molina,
Oscar Zafra,
Alejandro Casaseca.
My Thoughts:Better than the first.
Review:"REC 2" is the highly anticipated sequel to the Spanish horror hit, "REC". I wasn't really a fan of "REC", the first movie. Nor it's subsequential remake "Quarantine". And while many genre fans seemed to praise the original "REC", I thought it was average at best. Now comes to the sequel, "REC 2", which trumps what came before it because it delivers a lot more meat to the story than the first film.
In fact, things in the sequel pick up right where part 1 left off, with the newswoman being dragged off into the darkness. Although there is a lot more to this scene than we know at first, and the scenes is even reviewed, and then extended later on in the movie, to connect the base story of the sequel. "REC 2" not only follows the aftermath of the building full of infected, crazed, flesh-eating tenants, but it also gets down to the nitty gritty behind the apparent infection.
Answering the question once and for all, which is..."Is this really an infection, or something far more sinister?" The sequel is a lot less serious-toned than the first film. It kind of does the black humor thing, but not on purpose. This film didn't seem to be written to have funny, or chuckle-inducing moments. But it seemed to happen by accident, and I am always a fan of horror films that can garner a laugh or chuckle from me during moments when they simply aren't expected. In the movie, a SWAT team of guys, along with a medical officer, are sent into the building to find the source of the outbreak.
They have automatic weapons, SWAT gear, the whole nine, but being that this is a horror film, that only holds back the infected for so long, and as you would expect, most of these guys end up biting it, and figuring themselves into a situation where they're in way over their heads. This is what I found somewhat unbelievable about the movie, that these SWAT guys seemed to be kind of at the mercy of the buildings infected tenants. Granted, the infected move quick, the building, as shown in "REC" is very dark, with lots of places where the infected can jump out and attack, but these SWAT guys seemed to be too soft, and cracked very easily when the stuff hit the fan, so to speak.
My thought is, you throw Dutch and his guys from "Predator", or Hanover and his guys from "Deep Rising" into this situation, and they easily smoke the infected. But on the flipside of that theory, I guess it's somewhat of a clever twist, to make the SWAT guys not hardcore badasses, who are incapable of feeling fear and doubt about what's happening right before their very eyes. So in some ways, it's a toss up really. As for blood and gore, "REC 2" has as much, if not more than "REC", but a lot more bullets than part 1 did, that's for sure.
We also get a better assortment of characters in this movie, with the SWAT guys, a priest, and even some teenagers who show up later on, and find themselves quickly thrust into the middle of the blood, death, and chaos. So Paco Plaza and Jaume Balaguero, did an excellent job of expanding on the characters base, and adding some fresh faces into the fray. The directing is crisp as well, and it catches all of those nice chaotic "attack" moments, very well, without being too shaky or too unstable from the viewers perspective.
There's also a surprise moment in act three, where a familiar face from "REC" pops up, and greatly, dramatically, and powerfully affects the outcome of everything at the end of "REC 2". An ending which far trumps how "REC" ended. "REC 2" is a solid sequel to an otherwise missed opportunity in "REC". Didn't expect to be saying this, but...I anxiously await "REC 3"!
Positives:Good directing, nice new character additions, some heavy jump-scare moments which work well and are every effective. A terrifically creepy ending as well.
Negatives:Nothing major.
Overall:Four out of four stars.
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