Two years ago, riding the small wave of teen films that dotted the landscape, "Final Destination" poured into theaters with a different take on the teen slasher film. Gone was the maniac psycho killer chasing teenagers with a weapon. Instead, it was replaced by a somewhat intelligent "you can't cheat death" story line, and the film was filled with a tension as each survivor was caught again, fulfilling death's original list of victims.

Now, on the one-year anniversary of the ill-fated Flight 180 (from the first installment), we join Kimberly Corman (A.J. Cook) as she begins a drive to Daytona Beach with 3 of her friends. When she has a premonition that there is about to be a major traffic accident with many fatalities, including her own, she blocks off an intersection, essentially stopping those that would have gotten on the road and saving their lives. Unfortunately, death isn't postponed for long, and three of the would-be victims are taken out immediately. Realizing that she has done what Alex had done one year earlier on Flight 180, she warns the remaining survivors that they have cheated death and it will be coming for them. Enlisting the help of Clear Rivers (Ali Larter), the lone survivor from Flight 180 who had checked herself into a medical institution, Kimberly tries to help stop the chain of events that may eventually lead to her position on death's list.

"Final Destination 2" keeps it's ideals planted in the same intriguing notion as the first: is there a natural order to that which we are supposed to die? This theme has a commonality in all of us, because everyone on Earth will at some point die, and when we do, is it because it's "our time?" What if that order could be disrupted because of a premonition? The film takes many sides to the reaction such events could invoke. While Kimberly and Officer Burke (Michael Landes) wholeheartedly believe they cheated death and that they are on death's short-list, Eugene (Terrence 'T.C.' Carson) believes he is in control of his own actions and just happened to be lucky to have survived. The remaining survivors fall somewhere in between, not sure what to believe. But as the survivors are taken out one-by-one, they all start to see that coincidence or not, they need to do whatever is necessary to survive.

When death does come calling, it is gruesome. Can I stress that enough? Grue-some. It is amazing the way the victims die in this film, and it is all too visual. This movie will keep you squirming in your seat as they are taken out in sudden and imaginative ways. Almost every death scene made me wince in pain, then laugh with amusement that someone thought of that. Can you think of a way someone could be killed by barbed-wire fence? How about by PVC pipe? Don't even try, because you can't imagine their uses in the film. And you see everything. Of course, what the film revels in is the tension that is built up between these people being wiped off death's list. The characters don't see it coming, and neither will you, and it will make you jump and squirm.

The writers have to be given some credit for the interesting way the story ties to the first installment as well. We learn that each of the characters is in some way or another tied to some of the characters in the first film, that their lives were altered by actions that were not meant to have occurred in the first place. Anyone that interacts with someone who has cheated death has now had his or her lifeline affected as well. It's this "ripple effect" that could actually allow for many future franchises of the film, so can you say "Final Destination 3," anyone?

There are more than a few flaws in the film, one being that it is never revealed as to why Kimberly gets her premonitions. Yes, premonitions, because she has many. Clear’s sudden change of heart is also a little weak, as she leaves the institution after one three-minute visit from Kimberly to help her. Nine months must have been enough.

A.J. Cook (“The Virgin Suicides”) plays Kimberly a little flat emotionally. With everything going on around her, death, death, and more death, she is entirely too grounded. It would have been nice to see her shed a tear for any of the people, of who she was trying to help stay alive, that are now dead. If three of my friends are killed right before my eyes, I don't think I'd be able to sleep that night, but Kimberly doesn't seem too troubled by it.

Michael Landes (“Hart’s War”) is the most sympathetic cop ever, although he only is on duty once throughout the film. Doesn’t he have to work? It seems as though his character is a cop so that he can put out an A.P.B. on a vehicle. Otherwise, he could have been any other yuppie. T.C. Carson (“U-571”), however, plays his part of Eugene to perfection, at first not believing in the ridiculous notion of death as a phenomenon. But after someone is killed right next to him, he’s an emotional wreck.

While not quite as intelligent as the first, "Final Destination 2" is tension filled decadence, with just the right mix of humor and gore. If you can look past some of the flaws, and tension and gruesome accidents is your bag of tea, this film is made for you. Horror fans rejoice: you may just have a franchise on you hands.