Search - The Eye 2 on DVD

Predictable yet surprising

L. Lestha | Uxbridge, MA USA | 09/06/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Having seen and loved "The Eye" (which, I feel, had the single best suspense scene I have EVER seen in a horror movie... but I won't tell you which scene it is ), I willingly took a "chance" with "The Eye 2." The two films have a similar feel, similar styles, and a similar theme, but are different enough that you won't think you're just watching a re-hashed version of its predecessor. Even more than the first "The Eye", I find the second movie almost hard to classify as "horror." Yes, there are some horrific scenes, startles, suspense, gore, and some disturbing images (children semi-splattered on the street, for example -- so let that be a warning to the very faint-of-heart) but the movie also has a pleasing symmetry to it and a surprisingly touching ending; traits the first movie also shared. In fact, I was literally moved to tears at the ending. (Mind you, I can sit through the goriest movie without batting an eye. However, yes, I can be reduced to snivelling if a movie pulls the right heart-strings.)

I mentioned "predictable" because the narrative actually tells you what's going on if you simply pay attention. To me, it was clear about half-way (or a bit more) through the movie, which left me with that frustrating feeling of waiting for the character in the movie to "catch up" and finally "get it." Mind you, that's not necessarily a bad thing. I simply don't know if it was deliberate on the part of the film-makers or not. In other words, was the "surprise" spoiled for me because I figured it out in advance or was it deliberately designed so the audience was supposed to know before the main character (and thus lending to a completely different type of tension)? Because so many clues were given outright, I must conclude that it was a deliberate decision to let the audience in on the "secret" in advance. Although this tactic did reduce the "surprise" factor, there were enough other "ahhh!" moments of revelation that were well played and satisfying.

Unlike many Asian horror movies, I find the Pang brothers' movies much easier to follow in terms of narrative and character and thus much easier to enjoy. You're not left scratching your head in consternation, wondering what you just saw and thinking you must have missed some subtitles because the ending made no sense and came to no conclusion. Both "The Eye" movies have very clear plots, with a starting point at which the world starts to go terribly wrong, a build-up of the mystery and suspense, then a careful unfolding of the mystery in a way that is a bit like a detective story (the audience 'experiences' the exposition along with the lead character), and finally an actual conclusion that is, I feel, satisfying.

Personally, I liked the original movie better but not because the second one lacked anything. It's simply like choosing between two flavors of ice cream that you really like. I did find the lead character of the first movie more likable and could relate to her better but that was an aspect of the character and not the acting because the acting in both movies was excellent.

I hope there will be a third movie and I hope that it will be yet another delicious "flavor" to savor like the first two have been.

(Warning: Movie is a definite R rating. No bad language, no nudity that I remember, but very adult themes (pregnancy, abortion, suicide, rape, etc.) Blood and gore. Some horrifying death scenes. Not for the faint-of-heart or overly squeamish. Nevertheless, "The Eye" movies are NOT Western-style slasher splatter-fests. It doesn't flinch from gore but it also doesn't revel in it the way too many 'Western' horror movies do.)"

Pang Bros' non-sequel doesn't hold up.

Robert P. Beveridge | Cleveland, OH | 09/21/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"The Eye 2 (Oxide and Danny Pang, 2004)

The Pang Brothers return with what is ostensibly a sequel to their breakout hit The Eye. Whoever decided to market this as a sequel, however, really messed up. Taken as a film independent of its far superior older brother, this might well have been a lot better received than it ultimately was. This is not to say there's nothing other than marketing wrong with it, but that would have gone a long way towards making it a better experience.

The plot: Joey (Millennium Mambo beauty Shu Qi) is pregnant by her former boyfriend, and doesn't know what to do about it. She attempts suicide and, after failing, she begins to see ghosts. These ghosts seem to have a thing for hanging around pregnant women...

It's not a bad little story, for what it is, and the ending (which you can probably see coming a mile away) is positively heartwarming, if you're into that sort of thing. The problem is that what could have been an interesting drama with some supernatural aspects (see, for example, the fantastic The Uninvited) is relentlessly approached as a horror film, complete with utterly gratuitous shock scenes, that are way out of kilter with the basic storyline. When I have to bend my mind in directions it doesn't normally stretch to figure out how a scene fits into an otherwise straightforward movie, I'm working too hard to be enjoying it.

It doesn't bear comparison with the original film, but the movie's connections opened the door when they decided to make it a sequel. Simply put, aside from the remarkable directorial powers of Oxide and Danny, which infuse the film with the usual ambiance one finds in a Pang movie, nothing about this movie is remotely in the same realm of excellence found throughout The Eye. The acting (with the exception of Shu Qi's) is pedestrian, the script is lackluster if sporadically inspired, the special effects are, well, often just there for the sake of having special effects. Not to deny some of the are pretty cool, but why are some of them there?

Worth seeing if you've nothing better to do, but you're better off renting the original and watching it again. ** ½
"