redban02

I just left the theaters about 20 mins ago. Overall, I didn't like the movie

The movie's only strength, perhaps, is that some of the kills are cool and creative. I can't think of more to praise.

What struck me the most about this movie is that there's a ton of comedy. There have been several Final Destination movies over the years, and I can't say that I remember many of them: but I do very much remember the original with Devon Sawa, which I watched on a VHS rental tape after school many years ago. I recall that the original was haunting and scary, with little to no comedy. I think that sort of vibe works much better for this franchise; I did not like the comedy in this film. As a result, I found Richard Harmon's character to be so annoying in this movie (which is a shame. He's a good actor; I liked his performance in the TV show "The 100").

Another problem is that none of the characters are likable, interesting, or charming. On the contrary, most of them are quite annoying, mostly because of the efforts to be comedic. The film actually opens with an prologue involving a character named Iris and her lover, who encounter Death in a 400 foot tower. I actually wish the movie had stayed with them because they, unlike the protagonists, actually seemed interesting and likable: you really cared and wanted Iris to pull through in the prologue, a feeling that you don't get for the characters that appear afterwards

The lead actress in this movie was miscast: her non-stop wide-eyed facial expression demonstrate her limited range. Her character's personality traits are bland. The film also includes some kind of emotional plot thread involving the main actress and her mother. This angle is undeveloped and fails to click.

The character reactions in the film are eye-rolling. The main actress absorbs the information about Death in the span of a few hours, apparently. They witness people die in shockingly traumatic ways, yet they move on so quickly, cracking jokes in the next scene. The main character suffers from a recurring nightmare in the start, as she sees Iris and her boyfriend's death repeatedly. That nightmare problem apparently disappears after the first quarter of the film.

4.5/10.

I went to this see this one at the theaters on a bored Thursday, with Regal Unlimited. I was the only one at my screening. In the end, I was pleasantly surprised by this one

Firstly - I'll clarify that I had never heard of the video game until this movie, so I entered the theater with a fresh slate. I don't know if familiarity with the video game might make the movie more or less enjoyable; I can't speak on that issue

Initially, I was skeptical about this film. The concept seemed a little shaky - the idea of people replaying a bad day seems trite. But in truth, the characters don't simply experience the same day over and over again. Rather, they encounter different horrors each day; the effect is that the film doesn't become another Happy Death Day . And the horrors that they experience are often well-done. The villains are menacing; some of the kills are cool. The movie has the right pacing.

Most of all, I think the movie's biggest strength comes from the behavior of the characters when they're trapped in the loop. I admit that none of them, including the lead protagonist Clover, are especially likable or charming; and the movie's opening scenes are weak as a result: the movie doesn't really click until they actually end up in the loop. But once they're in the loop, the characters refreshingly behave reasonably. They don't do a lot of dumb stuff; their choices and questions seem realistic and thoughtful. While they argue and fight amongst themselves a few times (mostly with the character Blake), none of their bickering is overdone to the point of irritance, and nobody really becomes a total annoyance or jerk. Overall - I never rolled my eyes at the behavior of the characters, a rare feat in most horror movies

The film does have it's faults. The backstory of the setting and the loop isn't clear. The movie has a subplot involving the lead actress and her missing sister: this subplot is undeveloped and forgettable. In the end, I think they should have scrapped that detail from the script. While the movie is very much watchable, there's nothing here that's completely original or groundbreaking

6.5/10.

I went to see it today. I left the theater about an hour before writing this NO SPOILER review

Firstly - I'll note that I actually hated the original Accountant movie. I found that one to be slow and boring. I went to see this one because many reviews indicated that this sequel has a completely different feel from the first one, with more emphasis on buddy-buddy comedy (and the previews suggested the same). This movie indeed has a lot more comedy than the first Accountant did, and there's more Jon Bernthal. However, I still had the same problem with the pacing. The movie lingers a little too much on some details; the movie's over-2hr runtime is bloated.

The villains are a big issue in this movie. I'm just not sure about them. I found their whole plot thread involving sex trafficking to be a little hard to follow, and I didn't find any of them to be charismatic, memorable, or interesting. Consequently, I found the big finale to be underwhelming rather than satisfying. Moreover, the film has a mysterious female assassin running about: her backstory is eye-rollingly bad. Her character also seems mostly pointless in the end. I get the sense that the film jammed her character in this movie more to set-up a spinoff or sequel in the future (which I don't want to watch; hopefully her character just disappears). I was suprised by how much screen-time went to Agent Medina, who gets as much screen time as Jon Bernthal (maybe more).

I had rewatched the first Accountant movie not too long before watching the Accountant 2, just to make sure I'd understand the sequel. And having watched the 2 films in relatively quick succession, I feel that Affleck's character just doesn't come off as the same. He doesn't portray his autism the same way that he portrays his autism in part 1; it was like a different character entirely. I understand that 8-9 years have passed since the making of both films, but a good actor would've studied Part 1 to make ensure consistency in mannerisms, such as facial expressions and voice intonation ... And on the subject of Affleck's autism - truly, this detail wasn't needed in this movie; his condition wasn't pivotal to the film's core. The same fundamental story could've occured if Affleck's character were a regular dude with military training

Lastly - my final criticism is that the film becomes less grounded than I expected. During one scene, for example, Affleck rides a bike through the streets at 200 miles per hour as if he's Batman.

All that said - the movie still has something to offer. I found Jon Bernthal's character to be likable and charming. Some of the comedy lands. There's a scene where Affleck's colleague Justine (with her group of autistic pupils) hack into video cameras and such: that scene is actually pretty cool. If 5.0 is average, I give this one a 5.5/10

5.5/10.