User reviews

A very loose and disappointing sequel to The Cell, Cell 2 stars a Sandra Bullock lookalike as a clairvoyant on the trail of a serial killer named The Cusp. Fifteen minutes into the movie and we know who the killer is. Shot on no budget, this Utah-lensed video makes little effort in the special effects department, in stark contrast to The Cell with its operatic sets and imaginative use of CGI. So it's pretty much a standard criminal pursuit film, and the truth is one can get more kick out of an episode of TV's Criminal Intent. Toward the end, for a few seconds, we get to see our clairvoyant heroine all gussied up. And I must admit I wouldn't mind spending a little time with her. But she is no Jennifer Lopez (or Sandra Bullock) in the acting department, at least not here. Frank Whaley costars.

The FBI Agent Maya (Tessie Santiago) has developed the ability of psychically connect with other people after being murdered six times and brought back to live by the sadistic serial-killer Cusp. Now she is tracking down the infamous criminal through his mind using a device to protect herself but after an unsuccessful manhunt, she quits the FBI. One year later, when the niece of Sheriff Harris (Chris Bruno) is abducted by Cusp, Maya's former chief Kassel (Michael Flynn) summons her back to the investigation. Maya teams up with Harris trying to save his niece Penelope (Amee Walden), but her time is short and she must risk her own safety to help the young woman.

"The Cell 2" uses the idea of the average "The Cell" combined to these sadistic movies of torture like "Saw" franchise, but the result is weaker than the foregoing films. First, the screenplay is terrible, with many clichés and holes and awful characters. The restricted budget associated to the reasonable acting make this direct to DVD movie forgettable and a waste of time. My vote is four.

Title (Brazil): "A Cela 2" ("The Cell 2")

The Cusp is a killer who repeatedly kills his victims, then brings them back to life, until they beg to die. Some psychic chick has to go into the killer's mind to find his latest victim before she is killed.

I'm a fanatic for the first film. On a scale of 1 to 10, my excitement was about a 15 when I heard this sequel was being made. When I found out it was going direct-to-video, that excitement plummeted to a 2. Looking back, I realize that even after that drop to a 2, I was way over-excited for this movie. Yes – it's THAT bad.

The plot doesn't sound too terrible. I like the idea of a killer making his victims beg for death, and doing that by actually killing them is interesting. But the delivery of this concept was painfully lame. The victims don't put very much effort into their performances at all. The first girl, who's getting her heart cut out, responds as if it's only a minor inconvenience. Seriously, I picture the director behind the camera saying, "Okay, now act like you're in mild discomfort." I also thought the killer would be using some ritual or something interesting, but instead, he's using legit medical practices. One example is suffocating his victim with a plastic bag, then performing CPR to revive her. It's just not very interesting. I'm not sure if a ritual would be much better, but what we're given is just underwhelming.

There are so many little details about this movie that are just flat-out tacky. First of all, the intro to the movie is a short clip from the first film, during which a narrator says something about how a psychic entered the mind of a killer, and "now ... there is another". This is the only time we hear the narrator's voice. It feels rushed and stupid. (It had me and my friend laughing mere seconds into the movie.) Then, during the end credits, we see aerial shots from a helicopter. Half of the shots have the chopper's shadow in view. (It seems like they spent half of their budget on renting this helicopter so they were milking it for all they could.) Then the credits stop twice to showcase brief behind-the-scenes shots. Both of these shots are boring and offer absolutely nothing interesting. There's no point in their presence what-so-ever. Any class that the picture could have had is flushed down the toilet by dumb little moments like these.

An especially tacky aspect of the script is the use of FBI vs. local cop clichés. Not only is the local cop the hero, while the FBI guy is almost a villain for doing his job, but this movie teaches me that it's okay for a cop to tightly grip an FBI agent's testicles and threaten him in order to get a point across. Apparently he won't get fired, arrested, or sued for sexual harassment. Wow. You learn something new every day.

The only connection this story has with the first movie is A.) the brief intro that simply mentions J-Lo's character, B.) the general concept of entering a killer's mind to save one of his victims, and C). the ethnicity of the main characters. It really seemed that they cast the leading lady in this sequel for her ethnic appearance, rather than acting ability. There was no reason for this. We don't care what ethnicity she is, we just want someone who can act.

The way they depict the mind in this sequel is nowhere near as stylish or visually interesting as it is in the first movie. I feel like I shouldn't rag on this aspect too much, since they were obviously on a very small budget. There is one very small visual that's slightly interesting when you see it in context, but it's delivered with horrible CGI.

There is one area in which this movie genuinely impressed me. I was blown away by this movie's ability to make the most simple moments hilarious through awful editing, camera-work, and performances. There's a part where two FBI agents are chasing after the two main characters. It doesn't sound funny, but the horrendous editing, effortless camera work, and HALF-ASSED JOGGING of the actors makes the scene side- splittingly hilarious. There's also a car-chase scene that is made incredibly funny by the awful camera-work and editing. This is honestly one of those movies that I'd show to film students as an example of what NOT to do.

Overall, the movie has one or two interesting ideas wrapped into the script, but the weak acting, lazy film-making, crappy writing, and tacky moments make this movie funny as hell, and there are no interesting visuals to save it. I find this movie just as entertaining as the first film, but only because it's so hilariously terrible.

I loved the first one... it was awesome. if you expect anything like the first one you'll be disappointed. just take my word for it and don't waste your time... this is barely a movie. there is no acting, no logical story, no visual effects and the script was probably written in an hour... I cannot even call it a B movie, C or D movie at best... plain waste of money and time... You will figure out everything after the first 4 minutes. If this movie is your choice for a rental, rent another one with it, or your movie night will be ruined. Now I am just writing to complete 10 lines of text, because there is nothing else to write about this movie, it just sucks. and there you go, 10 lines...

This movie is awful. If you saw The Cell and were thinking 'Wow AWESOME, gimme more of this', then please don't go see this movie.

In the 'first' movie (I'm starting to think that the relation between the two is nothing more than the name and the first two shots of the second one) the dream scape was immersing, creative and beautiful, sometimes in a creepy way. In The Cell 2, the dream scape is just a cheap effect, a few squiggly lines at the edges of the screen. Story-wise, it lacks any continuity. Instead of having to be suspended in the air, hooked up to some extreme high tech system in weird suites, the main character is half awake while in the back of a plane, holding a personal item of someone involved. Somehow, they took that awesome dreamsurfing equipment and made it some bluetooth dongle stuck to her head. Furthermore, The shots look cheap, as do the sets. The tactics used by the police or swat are not remotely realistic, and quite frankly, make them look like a fart of the antagonist could blow them away. Now all of this would not be ultimate game-breaking stuff, but i just saw The Cell 1 only two hours ago and was hoping for some more psychedelic-dreamy-crime-horror-thriller-sexy-chicks(lopez) movie, but instead, I got ' a shot at the big-time '

Not every director has a huge budget, and there's nothing wrong with that, but somehow this director acquired a ' The Cell ' license and then ran out of money. Now there will never be a The Cell 3. Thx Tim Iacofano.

Can a movie be not good but still fun to watch? The Cell 2 is the perfect zone out movie to be honest, not a great recommendation, but it also had some so bad it was good scenes (somebody mention the ax in the back scene already, watch for it--it propels the entire thing into cult movie status.) Who is Frank Whalley, I had never heard of him, but then I looked up his page and he has a huge resume - this was the guy who was in "The Freshman"? No friggin' way, time was not kind to him but he did a great job in this movie. I was a little baffled by most of the actors in this, especially the lead actress Tessie Santiago who seems to be in a trance most of the time, is it because she's under the spell of The Cusp killer? I think that was the direction but it just wound up making her dull. Cheesy graphics, and an improbable but exciting helicopter crash scene at the end makes this a pretty hilarious movie, and yes, I mean in a good way, even if they didn't mean it.

Okay, here's the deal with The Cell 2 - it's not a 10 star, no way, but no way is it a 1 star either. This is late night cable fare at it's finest after I have come home from partying--not too much brains, some gore, a hot girl star who, I agree, is not the best actress, but she's not bad either, she's just in her hot girl safe zone, you know- not trying. Whalley is awesome though, he's found a new groove as a creep in his old age (no offense Frank). I thought it was slow after the opening...to much time between killings but I guess they have to develop the mystery suspense thing but it just got a little slow, but then ramps up to a pretty amazing chase action scene at the end. All in all, it's cheesy fun, not to be taken too seriously. Maybe the problem is that the other people read these reviews and then see a movie. Bad move. See a movie, see what you think, then check out what others think, unless you like to be a sheep.

Im surprised im not seeing this come out as a scifi channel movie, but after going thru the reviews from danlieberman7, cindystrngs, mooreabby70, lisabrnstn782, BillyLopezArt, johnlevitt85, mizzyplum, mer, AllenJones66. Besides the fact theve never reviewed anything before, there was a trait of talking bad about the original, or somehow as a good horror movie point that some kid from high school musical is in the 2nd. I've watched the trailer, and im watched parts from the movie, it was a bad knockoff that defiantly was no where close to the kind or quality of the 1st. The story was horrible, the flashlights on the main chicks head to use for the dream sequences. I wonder if Uwe Boll had anything to do with the production of this movie.

I read some of the other reviews, and at the time I went to see it the votes from other IMDb users were up there (over 5 stars average). I must say I wish I hadn't been exposed to it.

Let's start with the acting. It was so incredibly dry, unemotional, and boring that even if the script was good (which it most definitely was not), it wouldn't have helped. I was not drawn in even a bit by any of the characters in this film, and in a film of this genre you sort of need to be to enjoy it.

Then we have the villain, who was so contrived and boring that it took all of the anxiety and depth away from the film. The so-called "heroes" were an absolute pain to watch as they fumbled over their lines and delivered a performance memorable only for its lack of talent.

The "special effects" were reminiscent of early 90s power rangers episodes, I think that's enough said there.

The actual plot was annoying and underdeveloped. The general idea had some merit to it, but the angle they took with the hero/villain interaction ruined it for me, just too far-fetched for this kind of movie. The direction as well made this feel like a home made film, and not in a good way. It was just scene after scene of amateur shooting. I'm not a film buff by any means, and even I thought it was horrible. They even showed you some "behind the scenes" shots at the end, so make sure you stay tuned through the credits....wow.

You'll notice I gave this film 3 out of 10 stars... that's because the last 10-20 minutes of the film might have warranted 4-5 stars, whereas the first 90% probably 1-2 stars, so I averaged them. Though to be fair I'm not sure if the end was better than the beginning, or if I was just getting excited that it was almost over.

Also of note: I haven't seen the original "The Cell", so no, it's not like I went into this expecting a similar movie to the original, I had no basis for comparison.

Anyway, if you decide to watch this regardless of my warnings above, I'll leave the "I told you so" here for you when you're done. Otherwise, you can thank me later.

Just like the summary, the MacGyver TV show was better. It had a better storyline, plot summary and special effects. For this movie to be have the same name as the first cell, it's quite a cheap knockoff of the original. The premise behind the serial killer was cool, but that was about it. Personally, I'd rather watch livestock hump. Thank goodness this was a DVD rental. If we had paid upwards of 20 buck to see it in the theater (40 with popcorn and soda) I would have either demanded my money back or be serviced by an Albanian midget as compensation. Does that sound absurd to you? Yes it does. It is as absurd as this movie remotely being linked to the first one...

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this movie is another pathetic attempt of making a sequel for monetary reason. it's the couple-ideas-four-coins movie made for satellite TV's needs. if you're planning to see it, you can spend the one and half hour in a different way with no regret. none of the creators of the first movie are involved in this "sequel" and after you see it it's easy to understand why. it's ugly to see once again that producers and money are totally in control of something that should be the sum of all arts, and it's really incomprehensible how can they still think is possible to make a movie without any talented writer. only positive note is for Frank Whaley, whose A-class unexploited talent is anyway not enough to save a D-movie like this.

Well, they managed to at least give you hope with the name, but I am sure Tarsem Singh and anyone who was a follower of the first film shed a tear of disgust over this poorly made sequel.

Poor acting, poor story, poor cinematography, poor directing, poor editing.

I have never ranked a movie with one star, and I would have given it less if I could.

I loved all of Tarsem Singh's films and am sad to see such a good directors hard work go to shame because of a poorly made sequel.

I can only hope that whoever stared in this film was sad to do so.

5 minutes into the film I could take anymore it's complete garbage. Horrific storyline acting, and the effects are a joke it's true worst special effects I've ever scene. This movie is a disgrace to the film industry don't waste ur time event 5 minutes like I did. And by the way I actually enjoyed the first one.

I loved The Cell. It had beautiful imagery & a decent SciFi concept along with good actors.

This sequel's actors were flat and boring; sometimes they were just horrible. Can't say I've ever been bored by a serial killer before. If you liked The Cell and were hoping for more, forget it.

This movie was so consistently a "miss" that it's almost funny. The director, and the producers, who let it happen, ought to be taken out to the back lot somewhere and done in. Or worse: make them watch this film.

What didn't work is the acting most of all. The characterization a are about the quality of a porno movie, with none of the redeeming features (such as they are). The woman, Maya, who's supposed to figure stuff out remotely, instead just looks like an idiot. She spends most of the movie simply being useless, not knowing what's going on.

And the men in the film – not leading actors, obviously – were so emotionless and paper- thin, they should probably get credit for just maintaining a level of stupor throughout the whole thing.

Even the dastardly deeds of the villain were pretty pale as presented. Altogether a movie that's really not even worth watching for fun. Pass.

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning

Those cretins at LoveFilm, sure as day and night, sent me a film from the low priority section before I got one in one of the higher sections. And so I saw this made for DVD sequel to the 2000 horror film The Cell, which had pretensions of being a Silence of the Lambs style delve into the psyche of a serial killer but was in fact just an excuse for a former MTV music video director to show off his warped visual costumes and special effects. Hardly the springboard for a film that was going to get a sequel in theatres and surely enough, this has arrived like many other sequels nowadays arriving straight to DVD. And so we have a sexy (but scrawnily thin) young woman running around snow ridden America with a detective whose niece has been kidnapped, using her 'mind power' to hunt down the kidnapper, who's also a serial killer. Everyone involved just goes through the motions with some wearisome sets and dull dialogue until, after barely 70 minutes, the whole shebang comes to an end. Distracting enough if you've got nothing better to watch, but pretty pointless otherwise. **