Most of you reading this review probably watched the first film already. This review will contain some spoilers of the first movie. Just to let you know ahead of time.
The first Descent was pretty creepy and had some really good suspense. Especially for someone like me that is not a big fan of tight spaces. Not to mention tight spaces filled with mutant cave dwellers. The thing I didn’t care for was how the movie ended. Wasn’t a big fan of Sarah imagining herself escaping to only then be still stuck in the cave going crazy. It was one of those open endings that kept me from scoring it higher. The rest of the movie was very solid though. When I heard about a sequel that was going to take place right after the first film and continue with some of the same cast. I was very excited, and hoped that it would tie the first movie ending in nicely.
A few of the cast and crew return to do the sequel. Unfortunately though, Neil Marshall isn’t directing. However, Jon Harris takes the helm as director in this movie. He was the editor of the first one, so he isn’t a stranger to the story line. I would assume this would have much to do with other cast returning like they did. I like continued story lines with returning characters. Movies that load up with newcomers to film a sequel just do not seem to turn out that great.
Descent 2 hits the ground running, and wastes little time getting back to the dark underground. Mins into the movie we see that Sarah escapes the cave and ends up in a hospital recovery room. Getting hammered with questions about her lost friends, we see that she just isn’t herself anymore. She is still really traumatized about her struggle with naked tunnel people. Shortly after, a rescue team is formed to find the missing girls. Sarah is brought along to help guide them through the uncharted tunnel system. It doesn’t take much to know this isn’t going to turn out too well. A little foreshadowing, a cave in, and some missing camera tape later… Sarah deserves to give them a big, ‘I TOLD YOU SO.’
I’m about an hour into the movie and I must say its doing pretty well. Besides the sharp teeth of the cave people jumping out here and there from the dark. The movie is mentally creepy as well. Imagine being stuck in a hole with only about an inch more of room on either side of you to crawl through. All while the threat of having your throat ripped out to become sushi for naked wall crawling tunnel freaks. I don’t think the official name for them has been determined.
OVERALL SUMMARY
I was very happy with the movie over all. It provided solid action, suspense, and a bunch of WTF moments. Even a few scenes that seem to pay a little homage to the Evil Dead movies. Well placed gore for those of you that like to see people ripped apart. Its not much different than the first movie though. Which is good in some ways, but, there isn’t really much to set it apart. You could really watch them back to back and it would just seem like a 3 hour movie. Again, it doesn’t have to be a bad thing. I was just looking for something to set it apart, maybe bringing something new to the table. Jon Harris did a good job keeping with the same structure as Neil Marshall did. Similar to the first one though, I was a little dissapointed with the ending. Again, we are left with.. HUH? Instead of a clear finale. Now, we are left with questions of a subplot that is only made available to us in the last min or two of the movie. I hate that we end it with ulterior motives. This was a really good movie though. If you liked the first one, watch the second one.
