Final Destination 2 (2003) - Ellis's sequel is a ridiculous but impressive and entertaining array of wicked mayhem

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A batch of fresh young faces are back for abrupt tragedies on this dark poster for David R. Ellis' Final Destination 2

Due to a premonition, a girl on her way to spring break vacation is able to save several lives in a freakish freeway accident, as 21 wood logs fall off a semi. But Death has his ways of catching up...

The opening scene to the first Final Destination sequel maybe isn't as scary as the plane accident that opens the original film from 2000, but it is an absurdly well-done and spectacular scene nonetheless. An epic car crash.
The plot is a rackety construction, and it gets dopier from the fact that Final Destination 2 takes itself embarrassingly serious. It is written by J. Mackye Gruber (Kyle XY (2006-08)) and Eric Bress (The Butterfly Effect (2004)), with Jeffrey Reddick (Final Destination (2000)) contributing story elements, and directed by David R. Ellis (Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco (1996)), who is primarily a second unit director and stunt specialist.
Final Destination 2 is really all about the deaths, which are bigger, wilder and bloodier than those from the first film. They make the film a regular mix of action and gore, and Ellis has a firm handle on staging these scenes, which, for a genre fan, are good fun.

Related post:

Final Destination franchise: Final Destination (2000) - Wong's entertaining death chiller kicks off lucrative fatalistic teen franchise

Perhaps Final Destination 2 is just a 'repulsive spectacle' as Claudia Puig of USA Today opined, but it succeeds in instilling a strikingly physical effect in some audiences, as can be seen in this audience reaction video for the film

Cost: 26 mil. $
Box office: 90.4 mil. $
= Box office success
[Final Destination 2 premiered 30 January (USA) and runs 90 minutes. Shooting took place from February - May 2002 in British Columbia, Canada, including in Vancouver. For the opening pileup scene, no CGI cars were added in post, just logs, smoke, debris and blood. The film opened #2, just slightly behind fellow new release The Recruit, to a 16 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another week in the top 5 (#5) and grossed 46.9 mil. $ (51.9 % of the total gross). Its 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 9.3 mil. $ (10.3 %) and France with 4.7 mil. $ (5.2 %). The film is the lowest-grossing in the franchise, which continued with Final Destination 3 (2006), The Final Destination (2009) and Final Destination 5 (2011). Ellis returned with Cellular (2004). Final Destination 2 is rotten at 48 % with a 5/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Final Destination 2?

Final Destination (2000) - Wong's entertaining death chiller kicks off a lucrative fatalistic teen franchise

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We are reminded of the skulls lying behind the young, attractive stars' faces on this effective poster for James Wong's Final Destination

A high school class boards a plane headed for Paris, which explodes shortly after take-off. One of the students wakes up on the plane, which is readying for take-off. The experience, an extremely vivid dream or premonition, makes him leave it. - Only to actually see the plane explode shortly after with most of his classmates onboard. - This is only the beginning ...

These are the opening scenes of Final Destination. And you can't argue with this opening, which is hauntingly morbid and evocative, besides well-made technically.
Regrettably the young actors in Final Destination, of which many are lifted from TV, are generally sub-par, and it is also curious that the script often charge them to be stupid to the point of retardation.
Final Destination is, despite - and sometimes maybe because of - its moments of involuntary comedy and frightful self-importance, an entertaining teen horror. It is written by Glen Morgan (The X-Files (1993-18)), Jeffrey Reddick (Tamara (2005)) and feature-debuting co-writer-director James Wong (Dragonball: Evolution (2009)).

Watch a trailer for the latest in the franchise, Final Destination 5 (2011), here

Cost: 23 mil. $
Box office: 112.8 mil. $
= Big hit
[Final Destination premiered 16 March (USA) and runs 98 minutes. Reddick's original idea was first envisioned as an X-Files episode, but was instead written as a feature. Filming took place in British Columbia, Canada, including in Vancouver, in Toronto, Long Island and San Francisco from May - August 1999. The film opened #3, behind fellow new release Erin Brockovich and holdover hit Mission to Mars, to a 10 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it stayed #3 for another week before leaving the top 10, grossing solid 53.3 mil. $ (47.3 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 15.5 mil. $ (13.7 %) and Germany with 6.9 mil. $ (6.1 %). The success spawned a franchise of 4 more films, (Final Destination 2 (2003), Final Destination 3 (2006), The Final Destination (2009) and Final Destination 5 (2011)) comic books and novels. Wong returned with The One (2001). Final Destination is rotten at 34 % with a 4.7/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Final Destination?

American Pie (1999) or, Losing It Before Prom

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+ Best High School Movie of the Year + Best Sex Comedy of the Year + Best Youth Movie of the Year 

The over-night major stars of Chris and Paul Weitz's American Pie exude youthful energy on the poster

Four friends make a pact to have sex before their high school prom. And by using such auxiliaries as apple pie, laxatives, Stifler's mother, a webcam and good, pure intentions, they eventually succeed.

American Pie, written by Adam Herz (Go Fish (2001, TV-series)) and directed by brothers Chris (About a Boy (2002)) and Paul Weitz (Grandma (2015)), is a generational hit and a modern classic in the youth sex-comedy genre. It's a sweet and funny high school-set comedy with a lot of laughs and a charming cast: 
Especially Jason Biggs (All at Once (2016)) and Eugene Levy (Serendipity (2001)) as father and son work very well. The music is very contemporary for its time, and therefore, for me at least, feels very nostalgic today. Though it seems simple, the film succeeds in catching lightning in a bottle, and no wonder that American Pie was a giant, worldwide hit and spawned many sequels and rip-offs.

Related posts:

Chris Weitz:  Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) or, Ginny's Fate: A Star Wars Calculation (co-writer) 

1999 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 
Paul Weitz: Admission (2013) - Despite messy script, Fey is hilarious in Weitz's romcom  (director)

1999 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 11 mil. $
Box office: 235.4 mil. $
= Mega-hit (returned 21.4 times the cost)
[American Pie premiered 7 July (Los Angeles, California) and runs 95 minutes. Shooting took place from July - September 1998 in California, including Los Angeles. Universal Pictures were not convinced of the film's promise and stupidly sold off the foreign rights in order to recoup their investment as fast as possible. The film opened #1 to an 18.7 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 2 weeks in the top 5 (#2-#3) and grossed 102.5 mil. $ (43.5 % of the total gross). Roger Ebert gave it a 3/4 star review, translating to a notch harder than this one. The film also made in excess of 109.5 mil. $ in global home video sales, further underlining its monster success. Chris and Paul Weitz returned with Down to Earth (2001). Biggs returned with an uncredited appearance in Detroit Rock City (1999) and in a real part in Boys and Girls (2000). The Weitz brothers were out, but the film spurred a franchise that continued with American Pie 2 (2001), American Wedding (2003) and American Reunion (2012) as well as 4 direct-to-video spin-offs. American Pie is fresh at 61 % with a 5.8/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
 
What do you think of American Pie?