F/X2, effets très spéciaux

Special effects genius Rollie Tyler (Bryan Brown) is lured back into the world of creating illusion in "F/X2" also starring Brian Dennehy and Rachel Ticotin.

It's five years since Rollie quit the film business; now he's a toy-maker with a new girlfriend, Kim (Ticotin). When Kim's ex-husband, Mike (Tom Mason), a police officer, asks for Rollie's help in catching a killer, he reluctantly agrees.

Through no fault of Rollie's, Mike ends up dead and Rollie has the proof that Mike was set up. This puts Rollie in danger - deja vu. He makes a desperate call to Leo, and the two team up again.

This time around, the plot is a somewhat far-fetched, the emphasis being more on action. There are some very exciting scenes as well as some ingenious toys, including a toy clown that figures prominently in the plot.

Brown and Dennehy have incredible chemistry. They're a joy to watch. My old classmate, Josie DeGuzman (here spelled Josie) is back as Leo's secret weapon in the department. Being predominantly a theater actress, her performance is somewhat stagy but she's no less likable. Joanna Gleason plays an assistant DA.

Clever effects, the great re-teaming of Brown and Dennehy, and very entertaining.

The glaring shortcoming of F/X 2 is that the main thrust of the plot, i.e. the what and why of the baddies, is not revealed until an hour or so into the film. At 109 minutes, that's well over half-way. Certainly the point was to pop our main character, Rollie Tyler (reprised by Bryan Brown from the first movie), into a life and death situation beyond his comprehension, and not until several clues are followed revealed that he (and we) find out what these circumstances are.

Briefly, Rollie, the Australian special effects wizard, is hired again by the FBI to aid in cornering a serial killer. However, the plan goes awry when the FBI man who was supposed to stop the suspect in his tracks is killed by another unknown killer. Rollie finds himself also caught in a web of intrigue. And of course, when he is on the verge of getting snuffed out, Dennehy as Leo McCarthy pops in to save his ass. Not a bad opening, all things considered.

Finally, Leo uncovers the back story, which I won't reveal, lest I be accused of "giving it away" as they say. However, the back story is described almost offhandedly, without even a flashback. Unfortunately, the downside is that, with very little screen time left, neither the history of what's behind the bad guys' motivations nor the bad guys themselves are ever fully developed. I found myself wanting to know more about the circumstances surrounding this back story, the what and the why. Of course, with these kinds of movies, a lot of screen time must be devoted to the baddies chasing the innocent by-standers in shopping malls or in car chases. I guess it's a Hollywood law that American filmmakers must devote a specified minimum amount of time to choreographed running around and shooting so they can legitimately call their project an "action movie".

Still the film has its entertainment value. There is a strange chemistry that exists between Brian Dennehy (reprising his role has Leo McCarthy) and Bryan Brown, and again I wish that had been milked for all its worth. Of course, the most entertaining sequence, like the first installment, is the use of movie effects to thwart the bad guys, which works very well. Maybe I appreciated it as a breath of fresh air from the typical cat and mouse chase with automatic weapons that typically climaxes most of these kinds of films.

Still very much in the style of a 1980's action movie, although this was 1991, with the typical rock songs spliced in for good measure. With the exception of the use of the special effects against the baddies at the finale, story-wise it is really the equivalent of a two-part episode of "Simon and Simon" with a larger budget.

Everyone has one or two films which they know in their heart of hearts isn't a great film, maybe not even an average one but for whatever reason it crawls inside your head and wont let go. You just can't help but love it and this is one of mine. The acting is OK, the story idea is kind of cool if a little un-believable, the bad guys are inept (why doesn't anyone just shoot the guy!) but none of it matters I love this film.

Bryan Brown is excellent as the FX Man on the run and Brian Denehhey is up to his usual standards as good backup. It's a fun run from start to finish if you sit back and let it go this is a great way to pass 95mins. The FX tricks employed are clever and gosh darn it there's a happy ending maybe i'm just sentimental!! I hope more people see this film I highly recommend it, now i'm off to write a review of my other guilty pleasure the Secret of My Success.....

8/10

F/X2 was actually a good sequel. But I think that's because it is very much like the first movie. And, F/X itself was a great movie because of the idea of a special effects artist trying to get himself out of a mess. Rollie Tyler (Bryan Brown) is now a toy inventor, having retired from the special effects business. His girlfriend's ex-husband, a cop named Mike, employ's Rollie's special effects expertise to set up a sting operation. But, something goes foul and the cop winds up dead. Like F/X 2, Rollie becomes once again involved with crooked cops and has to solve the whodunnit. And, part of what made the first movie great, too, was Brian Dennehy as detective Leo McCarthy, who Rollie Tyler calls on for help.

As far as the story goes, it involves a bigger scale of corruption in the law enforcement circle, but the movie is just as enjoyable. And, you still get to see Rollie Tyler using his special effects abilities, which I always thought was the best part of the first one. If you have seen the first F/X, it's probably very likely you'll like the second one. It's one of the few movies I have seen where I can say that the sequel was pretty good.

Decent if somewhat belated(5 years??) followup to the '86 suprise hit, has Dennehy and Brown in fine form, some involved monkey business with Vatican medallions, bad cops and computer records. You gotta like the MacGyver-ish stuff they throw in, the indestructible hit-man and of course, That Clown. The Fighting, Animitronic Klown. Quite funny in it's way.

This thing is def. tongue in cheek, at little on the confusing side if you try to think about the flips and flops in the plotting; but hey-it's all in fun. Dated but good.

**1/2 outta ****.