American Psycho 2 : All American Girl

Time flies by so fast. If you were to look back almost 20 years from now, i have so many memories from the year of 2000. First of all, i was a huge Limp Bizkit fan during the 90´s, especially in 1999 and 2000 when they released their third album Chocolate Starfish And The Hot Dog Flavored Water. I played this CD all the time, everyday, no matter where i went. I also remember some other important details about the year 2000. This was the year when legendary director Paul Verhoeven released his film Hollow Man, inspired by H.G Wells novel The Invisible Man. Actor Kevin Bacon in the lead role as the mad scientist Sebastian Cain was a great choice for this character, but i also think actor Elisabeth Shue also did a good job with her character Linda McCay. What made Hollow Man a good horror film, was the fact that director Paul Verhoeven managed to mix influences with The Invisible Man, into scientific experiments on animals. I also feel that Hollow Man gave us an interesting perspective, what humans can do with technology that goes wrong. If you have not seen Hollow Man, pick up the Blu Ray release and i guarantee it will work on a summer evening with popcorn included. The year 2000 did have a number of great films that came out. But there was one film that really made the year 2000 very special. A very brutal portrait of a serial killer, in the fascinating film American Psycho by director Mary Harron. Lead actor Christian Bale really made one of his best performances ever on screen, as the serial killer Patrick Bateman. American Psycho is a cult classic film, that will live on forever. This was not an ordinary serial killer film, this film had so much more to offer. An amazing cast, a really beautiful, and disturbing cinematography by Andrzej Sekula. Director Mary Harron managed to make a very unique portrait on a serial killer, in a completely different way than before. There are more things that made this film so good, the dialogue worked very well, and the editing is also very professional. American Psycho turned out to be loved worldwide by all ages, and the film made a strong impact on many film critic. I actually bought the Region 1 DVD from America, many years ago. I wanted to make sure i got the film with special features that was not included in the Scandinavian DVD release. 2 years later a sequel was released called American Psycho 2: All American Girl on DVD. I did not see the film at that time, because i got some bad vibes from other peoples opinions about this sequel. But now i decided to watch this film, since i know i will do a 20th Anniversary movie review of American Psycho in 2020. Is this sequel to a cult classic better than expected, or is this even worse than i suspected ?

Student Rachel Newman ( Mila Kunis ) have a big appetite for murder. Ever since she was a small girl, she found herself fascinated about the power to take someones life. And now she is continuing her search for new victims, while studying in school. Her goal is to become the new assistant of Professor Starkman ( William Shatner ). Rachel is determined to reach her goal, and no one will stand in her way. 

I already had a feeling American Psycho 2 was going to be bad. And after watching this film, i can tell you right now, this is a sequel that never should have been made. In fact, this film is an insult to the original film. Now, i know that American Psycho 2 was not even meant to be a sequel from the beginning, but of course they chose to do one anyway. If you have seen the original film, you remember how well made the film is, and how amazing actor Christian Bale is in the lead role. In this sequel, you have a very young Mila Kunis in the lead role that does not feel connected to the first film at all. They do try and explain some kind of connection, but it makes absolutely no sense at all. So what do we get instead ? A college thriller with nothing to offer. We get some murder scenes, some dramatic moments where student Rachel ( played by actor Mila Kunis ), murder anyone who gets in her way, to achieve her goal. The thing is that Mila Kunis have proved herself to be a good actor, but during this time period she seemed to make some bad choices. And i guarantee, that you won´t enjoy her performance in this film. You can´t really connect with her character, and you don´t really care what will happen to her. I am most surprised to see legendary actor William Shatner in this film as Professor Starkman. If i had to choose one character who at least give some kind of performance, actor William Shatner at least tries to do something with the badly written script. The first film had some really brutal murders, and this sequel does not even try to make any effort to make the killing scenes frightening. The plot in this film is so simple, it could not have been hard writing a script. You can basically figure out what will happen later on, and this is a bad sign. Another thing that feels wrong with this film, is why you would make a sequel set on college ? It makes no sense at all, if you think about the first film. So is there anything good at all about American Psycho 2 ? I tried finding something positive, other than actor William Shatner, but had a hard time finding anything else. And for that i have no other option, then to say that you should stay away from this film. If you love the original film, this sequel will make you upset. That is the way i felt watching this sequel. There is a reason why you never make a sequel to an excellent film, and American Psycho 2 proves why it is a big mistake.

Rating: D