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[The Descent Part 2]
Plot:A rescue crew finds Sarah and takes her back into the cave to find survivors - where terror ensues once again.
Cast:Shauna Mcdonald,
Natalie Jackson Mendoza,
Gavan O'Herlihy,
Joshua Dallas,
Anna Skellern,
Douglas Hodge,
Krysten Cummings.
My Thoughts:Solid sequel.
Review:"The Descent: Part 2" picks up where "The Descent" left off, two days later in fact. Sarah, the only survivor of the cave incident, where Sarah and her friends encountered the crawlers, gets found by some rescuers, and spends some time in recovery. However, many questions still remain. Since she is a part of the group of women who vanished, a story which two days later, is all over the local news, they question her about the whereabouts of her friends.
Mostly because Sarah is covered in blood, and there is some slight suspicion that she may have offed them. However, this is a plot point touched upon later on in the movie briefly. Not so much forced upon the audience in the early going. Sarah doesn't give the rescuers too many answers about what happened underground, so they decide to chart an expedition into the uncharted cave system, and take Sarah with them. To see if the trip can jog her memory, and maybe they can find some survivors.
However, this proves to be a fatal mistake, as the trip only gives the crawlers some fresh meat, and another crack at Sarah. "The Descent: Part 2" does an excellent job of connecting itself with "The Descent", one of the big positives because we're in the age of the stand-alone sequel, where people who direct followups always want their film to be able to appeal to folks who haven't seen the first movie. This film though makes it known that it's a movie for the supporters and viewers of part 1, and keeps that momentum throughout the entire picture.
So what does the sequel offer up to us in the realm of content? Not much different from part 1, lots of trapsing in the darkness, lots of noises in the darkness, and of course...those pesky crawlers. Just like in the first film, they attack fast and furious, sneaking up on people at the most inopportune times, and quickly ravaging them. The only difference between part 1 and part 2, is that you know going into part 2 that crawlers lurk within the cave system.
Whereas in part 1, the vicious little freaks were part of the surprise. "The Descent: Part 2" does offer up some surprises however, including a cave in which separates the rescue group, Sarah going rogue, the re-mergence of a thought-to-be-dead character, said characters interaction with Sarah, and three deaths of the "extremely shocking" variety. So while part 2 mostly uses it's monsters as a catalyst for all kinds of carnage, it doesn't lack suspense or thrills just because the viewer knows the monsters are in play within the movies story.
As far as blood, gore, and violence is concerned, part 2 pretty much cannot trump part 1, the Juno and Sarah versus The Crawlers scene at the end of part 1, in itself has more blood and gore than the entire sequel does, but the movie is still very bloody. With people being ripped up, slashed up, and bit up by the crawlers, and the infamous climbing spike making a reappearance in the sequel as the weapon of choice by the films leading ladies to beat the crap out of and kill their feral enemies.
If there's one weakness this film has though, it's the finale. Now don't get me wrong, it's very intense, very powerful, exciting, and even moving in some ways. But not only does the film conclude the exact same way the first movie did, but we pretty much are robbed of a fair ending for the movies survivors. The ending still works, in the context of the film and what kind of film it is, but I thought it kind of went too hard on the characters.
Nonetheless, it's not an ending I hated, but rather didn't think was well-deserved by those involved. "The Descent: Part 2" however is a solid sequel. The picture delivers in all aspects of which a sequel should, and at the same time, ties up some loose ends from the first movie. Definitely a picture worth seeing.
Positives:Good performances by most of the cast, high levels of blood and gore, the dark and spooky cave system once again is a great catalyst for strong suspense, excitement, and chills...keeping the film from becoming boring at any time. The third act is very strong.
Negatives:The films final scene, I thought the ending fit the movie technically, but from a viewer standpoint, wasn't very fair.
Overall:Three and a half out of four stars.
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