The Cell 2 Review
Some sequels build on the logic of the world created in the original, even if they ultimately fall short. Others, especially straight-to-video sequels, are just happy to be classified in the same cinematic genre. The Cell 2 is more the latter film, though it does contain a few token gestures toward the bold, dream-like landscape Tarsem Singh gave us in The Cell. It also includes some brief footage of Jennifer Lopez from The Cell, in a vain attempt to solidify the connection between this film and that. If it weren't suffering badly by comparison, The Cell 2 would actually be a halfway decent serial killer movie, if only by the nominal standards of straight-to-video. Frank Whaley is the one known name in the cast -- which suggests that his character may be more than just a bumbling sheriff's deputy. The other actors are predictably low rent, but not distractingly so, and the concept itself is somewhat interesting: The killer's MO is to keep "killing" his victims and repeatedly resuscitating them, until they finally give up the ghost. However, call a movie The Cell 2 and the specter of The Cell will always be there. So it's disappointing that the woman who enters the killer's consciousness -- an escaped victim who developed psychic abilities as some sort of byproduct of her victimhood -- does so without anything like the specialized equipment Singh concocted for the original. Here, Maya (Tessie Santiago) just has to strap on a receptionist's headset with a little green light attached for good measure, then touch some object touched by the killer, and suddenly she can see where he is right now -- or see his memories, whichever she chooses. That conceit doesn't hold up to a bit of logical scrutiny, and it cancels out the few things the movie does right. Derek Armstrong, Rovi
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