Alone in the Dark II

I did not know what to do last night, as it was unexpectedly raining in Dubai. I stopped by the Grand Cinemas at the Mercato Mall and for some unknown reason, decided to spend...sorry waste 30 dirhams to see that movie.

Yes, i found myself alone in the dark too ! The only guy in that movie theatre. At first i thought i was early, which actually was the case, then as the movie started, i realized that i was still alone in the dark.

Then after half an hour watching that movie, i did understand why...But never did understand the story of that movie, if any. Anyway, arriving early was also good in itself, as i did at least enjoyed the commercials and movies preview.

But Alone in the Dark 2, was absolutely crap ! Bad acting, with newbie actors staring from time to time at the camera ( Damned ! they told me already it is not a prop ! ), the worst special effects i have ever seen so far, the worst CG, the worst story and i still wonder how they managed to make a sequel.

The veins appearing on that Chinese guy are amazing !!! You can even see the glue to stick them to the skin !!!! 1 (awful) out of 10, but honestly it deserves a 0 or minus something...

Uwe Boll's original video game adaptation of ALONE IN THE DARK was bad enough, but this sequel reaches new levels of low. Gone are Christian Slater and Tara Reid from the original film, jettisoned in favour of an entirely cheaper cast and an even more nonsensical storyline involving the hunt for a magical dagger and an evil witch.

Bizarrely, the central character of Edward Carnby has changed race, now being played by the Chinese-American actor Rick Yune. Carnby's very soul is in peril thanks to a sinister infection that causes some dodgy-looking veins to stick out of his chest, so a crack team must infiltrate a haunted manor and lay to rest the spirit of an evil witch who's causing all kinds of trouble.

This is a poorly-directed, poorly-written mess through and through, reliant on sub-par CGI and bad acting from beginning to end. All it can offer the viewer is a string of celebrity cameos from various personalities, so we get the likes of Bill Moseley, Jason Connery, former CONAN Ralf Moeller, and CARRIE's P.J. Soles. Even Danny Trejo shows up for just a single scene. Best of the lot is Lance Henriksen, who bags something of a meatier exposition-spouting role, but even he's on autopilot, and nothing about ALONE IN THE DARK 2 is good.

So this film was like a B-Movie that didn't know it was a B-Movie. So it's playing everything really straight, and serious when the script is kind of ridiculous.

The special effects are awful, if some of them would have spent time alone in the dark. Then maybe they could have hid some of the bad CGI. They were so bad I was shocked by how late the film is, because the overall quality also seems like it was filmed years ago.

I think if you like terrible films, you might find it a little entertaining. Some moments do seem really over the top, and the music choices are often over dramatic as well. I don't think it was a complete waste of time, but I do wish I would have been drunk with friends whilst watching it.

ALONE IN THE DARK 2 is a sequel that has virtually nothing in common with the first film except for the main character this time played by DIE ANOTHER DAY's Rick Yune but it is in a way better than the first one because it has a well put together storyline that is well fleshed out and the direction is very nicely handled, the best part is Uwe Boll didn't even direct this one.

The acting is a case of hit and miss, some of cast hit their mark such as Bill Moseley and Lance Henriksen that both play their parts convincingly, the one cast member that misses the most is Rick Yune, I also saw him in a film called THE 5TH COMMANDMENT and between this one and that one, the ideal leading man he is not because he doesn't bring any energy to his character which results in him failing to carry the film.

The fact that this film is better shows that the writers and directors Peter Scheers and Micheal Roesch put in more effort with this film than Uwe Boll did with the first, so take notes Mr. Boll you might learn something.

While the first movie was a poor adaptation, this one sticks closer to the source material, as it revisits the psychological and supernatural horror of video games. Unfortunately as a movie it is quite bad and worse than its predecessor. It has notable actors, since there are some familiar faces. The problem is that this film lacks meaning and incoherence. It's not fully understandable and it's pretty boring. In the case of a film for video, it is not surprising. As much as the first movie wasn't a gem, at least it was entertaining for its action scenes and monsters. This, on the other hand, is a supernatural thriller that, instead of exciting, bores. Alone In The Dark 2 is a lousy sequel that makes the first one look like a good movie. My rating for this movie is 4/10.