American Psycho 2

This movie is the worst thing I have ever seen in my life. I want to die. I don't expect everyone to like, or even understand, the original American Psycho, but reading these comments has ruined my faith in humanity. It's drivel, pure and simple. The tagline alone, "Angrier. Deadlier. Sexier." is just terrible. The world would be a better place if this movie had never been made.

American Psycho II (2002)

BOMB (out of 4)

In name only sequel to the cult film has Mila Kunis playing Rachel, a young woman who as a child killed the serial killer Patrick Bateman. Flash forward several years and Rachel is in college trying to become a FBI agent but her goal of becoming her professor's (William Shatner) assistant means that she will have to turn into a killer to knock off the competition. American PSYCHO II is just a poor cash-in on the cult success of the first film but I really don't knock it for that. As a fan of horror films I've come accustom to cheap knock-offs but the problem with this film is that it's just not nearly as clever as it thinks it is. The biggest problem for me is the entire tone of the picture, which seems to be wanting to wink at the viewer. Rachel is shown as just a sweet girl next door type and we get some of the worst narration that you're ever going to hear throughout the movie as we move from one killing to the next. This narration really was some of the worst that I've ever heard and it was quite annoying. Even worse is the music score, which also tries to wink at the viewer with its silly light touch. I'm really not sure what the producers were trying to do with this picture but it's certainly a complete failure from the opening scene to the last. Was this meant to be a spoof of horror pictures? Perhaps but it's certainly not funny and as I said before, the picture isn't nearly as clever as it thinks. Even worse is the fact that Kunis is just downright awful here and it's easy to see why she doesn't want anyone to bring the picture up. Everything from her line delivery to the way she shows any sort of emotion is just bad. Yes she's hot but that's certainly not enough to carry the picture. Shatner is pretty much just cashing a paycheck and adds very little to the picture. Even as a horror film this thing doesn't work as the death scenes are all forgettable and there's just not enough sleaze to make it entertaining.

As a movie in its own right, I enjoyed this, but I can't say it felt anything like the first "American Psycho". If it weren't for the sporadic reference-by- name of Patrick Bateman, there would really be nothing to tie the two movies together. So if you're looking for a movie that seems to -deserve- the title "American Psycho II", don't bother with this one, it will be a disappointment.

Even so, while it's not what I'd call "juicy" or truly "great", it is watchable. Mild on gore, heavy on psychopathology - it maintains something of a dark, gritty "Lifetime Special Movie" feel throughout. I might call it a "high- end time-waster" type. :-)

Rumor has it that Lions Gate Films took an old, un-used script and tweaked it just a little bit to make it a sequel to Universal's 2000 controversial hit "American Psycho." It's easy to see why this went straight to video. Played off as more of a dark comedy than the first one, and severely lacking any gore, nudity or intensity, this is a very weak follow-up and leaves a lot to be desired. Mila Kunis, as gorgeous as she may be, was absolutely annoying during her narrations - I couldn't help but think of "Family Guy" the whole time! I seriously almost took the tape out of the VCR several times, I just got so frustrated. This movie is very low-quality and was obviously made with a shoe-string budget -- which isn't a bad thing, as long the filmmakers know what they are doing, but director Morgan J. Freeman (no, not the guy from "Shawshank Redemption") doesn't seem to take the material seriously enough to make it work (there's a lot of interviews out there of him trashing the first film and the people who made it). Overall, it plays more like a made-for-TV movie and a very cheesy, bad attempt at dark comedy. A few twists here and there might perk your interest, but other than that, this girl is D.O.A.

2/10

American Psycho II is a blatant attempt to rip off the reputation of American Psycho, which was a classic critique of the 1980s yuppie culture. It was also based on an actual book, by Brat Easton Ellis, which means that it was much better written than your average teen horror schlock.

I feel sorry for 19 year old (at the time) Mila Kunis. I'm sure she's a nice girl and has some kind of acting future ahead of her.

The very notion of replacing Patrick Bateman with a cutesy teenaged girl (in the movie) is in and of itself a betrayal of the hardhitting satire it was based on. Any attempt to try and connect with the original is both forced and pathetic.

Miss this one at all cost, and if you haven't already, see the original, with Christian Bale, Willem Dafoe and Jared Leto, among many others.