Yes, audiences who thought they had heard the last of this immortal line are in for a real treat with the slasher sequel "I Still Know What You Did Last Summer." Stop, Leonardo is not in the movie. This time it's two new characters who playfully call out the line as they throw their arms in the air en route to the Bahamas. The stupidity of this scene and the ripping off of one of the most overused lines in movie history gives audiences a pretty good idea of the level on which the movie will be operating.
This unneeded sequel combines the original's survivors: Jennifer Love Hewitt as the tortured Julie James and Freddie Prinze, Jr. as her former boyfriend Ray, with some new blood in the form of Brandy (Karla) and Mekhi Phifer (Tyrell). Still haunted by the fact that she may have killed a man, Ben Willis, the past summer, Julie has spooky nightmares and lives in constant fear that the he just might not be dead. She stumbles through her life, sure that the evil Ben Willis is only a step away.
As luck would have it, Karla wins a free vacation to the Bahamas where it seems Julie will finally get a chance to get her groove back. Unfortunately, the luck runs dry when the gang reaches the heavenly island. Whoever set up this dream vacation wasn't in on the fact that hurricane season starts on the day that the lucky winners arrive. The rain picks up and soon the characters realize they're not alone on this island. As they wait for the weather to clear, minor characters start getting hooked (the killer's weapon of choice), leaving the gang trapped with one very angry Ben Willis. The plot thickens.
For all the time in the lime that Jennifer Love Hewitt gets onscreen, she adds nothing to the movie. The mopey, down-in-the-dumps character of Julie is very annoying, and it would be a clear sign of some higher power if she would really die in one of these movies (more on this later). Julie bums around until her big shouting moment "You want me? Come and get me. I'm not dying on this island!" after which she decides to play tough with old Ben.
A perfect contrast to the somber Julie is her best friend Karla, the spunky kick-boxer. Brandy shows no real acting talent and despite her booming music career she is not involved in either of the flick's two sing-along sequences.
Mekhi Phifer, striking in Spike Lee's "Clockers," is a talented actor who has absolutely nothing to work with in the role of Tyrell. Why he accepted this part is something that will forever remain a mystery, right up there with why this film was ever made.
Although his character is nothing more than the beefy boyfriend, Freddie Prinze, Jr. provides the picture's lone highlight when his character Ray passes the time on a late night trip by singing Whitesnake. Hearing the actor sing his heart out to the classic lyrics of "Here I Go Again" ensures the fact that everyone in the audience will smile at least once during the movie.
The film's story is a joke, and much of this can be attributed to the fact that Kevin Williamson, scribe of "Scream" and "I Know What You Did Last Summer," didn't write the script. Although not known for his character development, Williamson can usually be counted on to fill a movie with laughs and a slew of hip, pop culture references. Here, the hip reference is the most known line of dialogue from "Titanic." So sly.
The strangest and most irritating thing about the two movies in the series is what happens to the Julie James character at the end of the films. One of the only high points of the first installment was when the makers implied her death at the end of the movie. Here, they get around that problem by explaining that Julie has a lot of dreams where Ben Willis is chasing her. Without giving too much away, another ridiculous ending leaves audiences angry, annoyed and wondering what has become of the horror genre. This is the perfect cap to a horrendous movie which should be hooked straight out of theaters by an embarrassed Ben Willis.
Courtesy of Mandalay Entertainment
Jennifer Love Hewitt, Brandy, and Jennifer Esposito are forced to watch three episodes of "Moesha," back to back to back.