Fear Revisited: [REC] 2 (2009)

After seeing a few old classics, I decided to indulge myself on something more recent. Specifically, a movie I've been wanting to see for years, and have been saving all year for this month. The sequel to one of my most favorite zombie movies of all time, [REC] 2. For those of you who don't know the story of the first film, it documents the very start of a zombie outbreak in a single apartment building. A TV reporter tags along with a firefighter crew into the building, and we see all hell break loose from what seems to be the very first case. And all from the camera they're carrying around with them! It was completely awesome in every way for a zombie fan like myself! Now, for the sequel. So is it good, or did they ruin a great new zombie franchise? Hit the jump to find out!


Interestingly, [REC] 2 pics up just minutes after the first film ends. The building is still in quarantine and after having lost contact with the fire team and medical specialist that had gone in earlier, the order has been made to send in a SWAT team with yet another medical expert. They are all given helmet mounted cameras, a large professional video camera, and strict orders to document everything that happens. The medical expert, Dr. Owen, is put in charge, and once they are inside, he reveals that he knows far more about what's going on than he previously let on. It turns out this is a secret mission with a specific search and retrieve task. Get in, grab it, get out! That's it! But it's never that simple, is it?

There are some fun tricks the SWAT team can do by linking the helmet-cams to the main camera

Before I go too much further, I should mention that both [REC] and [REC] 2 are Spanish films. What made the first film so great, was the chaotic "found footage" style of filming, similar to Cloverfield, Paranormal Activity, and Blair Witch. It put you right in the moment of a zombie attack, which every zombie fan will tell you that they've either imagined, had dreams about, or just pondered. I was worried that the sequel would seem forced, because what would the odds be that yet more found footage was created in the exact same building moments after the first film's camera goes dark?

The solution was to have a SWAT unit go in, and it's not out of the question that they would all have cameras on their helmets. They quickly establish that the main camera and the helmet cams can be linked, and it is used very smartly, and seems to make sense why they would switch to the other views when they do. Not only that, but they aren't the only ones that get into the building! This conveniently adds another camera to the mix, and even more interestingly, another perspective of the events going on, which the film smartly switches between. There are a number of "oh isn't that convenient" moments which hold the film back just a tiny bit as more cameras keep being found at just the right moment, but it's a minor point when it makes use of them so well. Surprisingly, it was all rather "fresh" feeling.

Tito, along with his sister and friend, sneak into the building after the SWAT team goes in

Probably the thing I liked the most about [REC] 2 is something that I don't want to give away in my little review. Let me just say that I've always liked zombies from old movies, before more recent ones started to try and explain their impossibility with science, eventually coming up with the new variation, commonly referred to as "infected" among zombie fans. With that in mind, let me just say I really liked how the zombies/infected/whatever are treated. I thought it was really cool, and was almost a bit of a twist on the zombie concept I haven't really seen explored before. Very cool in my opinion.

The only problem that the movie has in my eyes is that, because it's a sequel, it loses that sense of discovery since you are already familiar with the situation, location, and the danger. My favorite part of zombie movies has always been the initial outbreak, which is of course all contained in the first [REC]. This time, we end up with some odd situations, like why are there no zombies when they first go into the building? I know for a fact they should be all over the place from the first movie. I suppose that sense of discovery I spoke about comes about as we learn more about the original situation from Dr. Owen, but it wasn't quite the same for me. Also, the thrill of the characters being in danger is certainly lessened when there just aren't as many to be killed off as zombie fodder, else the movie would end too quickly.

Oh, finally, here come all those zombies from the first film. Took them long enough!

Not that there aren't tense moments in the film. Several times I found myself sitting straight up on the edge of my seat holding my breath as all hell broke loose a number of times. Of course, being a SWAT team, they seem to get out of some pretty hairy situations, which honestly, I thought would be completely impossible. I guess that body armor really comes in handy. Even so, there are a few startling moments in the film that wouldn't be for the fainthearted. And yet, as far as zombie movies go, it's surprisingly not terribly graphic and gory.

[REC] 2 was a thrilling, bloody roller-coaster ride! It took a little bit to get moving with the oddly calm period at the start, considering the situation they were walking into, but once it got going, it was almost non-stop for the rest of the film! I still think the original was better than its sequel, but only by a little bit, because [REC] 2 took the film in directions I was never expecting and I was grateful for it. The ending was a little odd... no, strike that... the ending was REALLY odd, but I guess it leaves it in a good place. I already know there are 3rd and 4th installments in the works, so I'll be eagerly awaiting those in the coming years.

In short, if you like zombie movies, watch [REC]. And if you've already seen that, have little fear in checking out [REC] 2 as it holds it's own pretty damned well!