Fall 2: Deadpoint

Fall 2: Deadpoint
Starring Harriet Slater, Arsema Thomas, Tom Brittney, Virginia Gardner
Directed by The Spierig Brothers

Heights is a common fear for many people, myself included. However, unlike my other fear, I don't really have to worry about climbing a rusty old television broadcasting tower or traverse rickety planks on the side of a mountain 4,000 feet above the surface of the earth, so while the first "Fall" and even this one had me squirming in my seat, it was more due to the tension and the thought of being there that made it terrifying, not particularly by thinking I'd ever do it myself. Still, there's a sense of joy that comes with these films despite their narrative dissonance, and essentially this is the closest I'll come to a roller coaster ride - in for the thrills, but thankfully keeping my feet planted on the ground. While there wasn't a need for a sequel - and the sequel's many faults - I was still squirming a bit in my seat, but not as much as the original.

Jax Hunter (Harriet Slater) is still mourning the death of her sister, adventurer Shiloh (Virginia Gardner), after she fell to her death a year prior on an adventure with her best friend atop an old television tower. Shiloh was an avid adventurer who posted her journeys online, and her death shattered the world of thrill seekers so much Jax was hounded by crazed fans. One day she and Shiloh's friend Luce (Arsema Thomas) are going through her old adventure book and finds one she wanted to do but never got the chance: plank walk on Mount Kwan in Thailand to see a dragon statue that will "eat your fears."They arrive in Thailand and hire guide Jon (Tom Brittney) to guide them, and although Jax is hesitant at first she faces her fears and joins Luce and Jon. However, after an earthquake collapses a section of the plank wall, Luce and Jax find themselves stranded high up the mountain with no sign of rescue.

I'll never understand people who hunger for thrills like this, or even real-life adventurers like Alex Honnold, who free solos his way up mountains and whose documentary "Free Solo" won the Oscar for Best Documentary. I never had the desire to conquer my fear of heights nor would I ever want to, and movies like "Fall" and the sequel have to balance providing characters you actually care about even though they do the stupidest things. The first pulled it off better than this, due to the comradere the friends had from the start - Shiloh and Becky were best friends, while Jax and Luce don't even know each other. It takes away the tension when they're trying to survive, especially when they're left stranded, and honestly the performances are rather bad.

Yet that really doesn't matter in the end, because this type of movie relies on one thing: thrills. While they're stranded, it's not as bad as when Becky and Shiloh were stranded in the original, since they have a plank they can comfortably sit on as opposed to clinging for dear life on a broadcast tower. There's several scenes showing how high up they are, and while it works in making you uncomfortable, it's not the extent the original did, and the antics of these two characters are even more stupid than the first so much so you don't particularly care if they fall or not.

It's another detriment to the sequel in that it takes so long to get to this point where you don't care about it. Harriet Slater and Arsema Thomas have no chemistry together, and it's like two strangers embarking on a hike. The melodrama exceeds a Telenovela show, and the outrageous antics of Shiloh's online fans is downright hilarious to think about. Once they finally get into their situation, it goes stagnant for awhile as they attempt to retrieve a radio dangling from a pole, but after the first ten minutes it becomes redundant.

Like the first film, they try to introduce some twists and turns to keep things exciting, but even these don't save the film from the mediocre sequelitis that oftentimes befalls a decent original. While you'll squirm, you won't do it as much as the original.

The Score: B+