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When The Collector came out, critics hated it but, a lot of people seemed to love it. Me, I was in the middle. It wasn't as bad as critics proclaimed it to be but, it wasn't great either. It was just a run-of- the-mill torture porn movie. It was never boring but, the execution could have been better. So three years later we get a sequel. I'm not sure who asked for it since there's hardly a fan base for this movie but, I have to say, this is a slight improvement over the first and I like the direction in which this series is heading.
As expected, this movie has some of the same problems as the first. For starters, we still don't know the collector's motives as to why he does what he does. We're given a little insight but, it's not enough. If there is a third movie, hopefully it'll explain his back story further. The next are the annoying plot holes, especially in the beginning. How was he able to set up those elaborate traps without anyone noticing and in such a short amount of time?
Then there are the characters. Obviously they're only here to let the film makers show off their cool and twisted traps that they came up with because these characters are as thin as paper. Characterization was left on the cutting room floor and since there's a group of them that go into the collector's lair we get to play the horror game guess who dies next! Even Josh Stewart's character Arkin(who was the main character in the first movie) isn't given any further exploration. With the way this movie ended, hopefully that will change in the next chapter.
The acting is an improvement over the first movie. Probably because this is a whole new cast with only 2 of the previous cast members returning. In the first movie, the acting is was what you would normally find in a porn movie. That's not the case here, with the exception of Josh Stewart who barely emits any emotion. He gave a better performance in The Dark Knight Rises in the ten minutes that he appeared in that movie than in this movie. The rest of the cast does a nice job. There's a naturalness to Emma Fitzpatrick's performance who sells her role. Christopher McDonald, who is probably the only recognizable person in the cast, does a fine job at playing the father who desperately wants his daughter back. As for everyone else, as I just said, they do nice jobs.
Now onto the best part, the traps! The traps this time around are more elaborate and twisted than the first film. I will say that the way some of the people that meet these traps, meet them in most gruesome way(no duh) but, there were points where my stomach turned. Especially the beginning, those who don't have a strong stomach it might be best to avoid this movie. There were also some very tense scenes that were well done. The one in the trailer where you see the spiders on the girl, that scene sent shivers up my spine. Then there's a part where the girl Elena(Emma Fitzpatrick) drops her hearing aid on a bear trap and has to get it off the bear trap. That scene kept me on the edge of my seat and on top of that she has to walk across the hallway full of bear traps. It's scenes like these and the traps that kept me engrossed throughout the movie.
Overall, a slight improvement over the first. Though it shares the some of the same problems as the first, lack of character development, still no back story or explanation as to why the collector does what he does, and plot holes galore. The acting is better this time around(except Josh Stewart), the traps are more elaborate and staged better, the execution is better, and it runs at a nice breezy pace. This movie won't gather any new fans but, to the people who like this kind of stuff, this is a treat. There were nice suspenseful moments that kept me engrossed even if this is implausible. Hopefully with the way this series is heading the third one will be even better and we'll finally get to know more about The Collector. Until then, this is a solid movie for it's genre and a solid entry into this (hopefully) ongoing trilogy.
