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Cruel Intentions 2: Manchester Prep
List Price: Unknown [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
I have to say that I haven't been very entertained by the wave of teen films that have come out in the past few years. There's the occasional minorly entertaining picture such as "10 Things I Hate About You", but more often than not, there's a lot of weak films like "Boys and Girls". One teen film always remains at the front of the pack though - the original "Cruel Intentions". A remake of "Dangerous Liasons", the picture was not "art", but contained entertaining performances and seemed lively and energetic, with good production values, dialogue and acting.
Sure enough, Fox was looking for a show soon after, and they thought that a television version of "Cruel Intentions" might make for a hit. "Manchester Prep" was the series title, and it looked for a while as if it would arrive soon after, only...it never did. Fox had problems with the content of the show and felt that the sexual material in the show wasn't appropriate for television. Not ones to let things go to waste, Tristar re-worked the pilot of the series, which acts as a prequel to the picture, and is releasing it as "Cruel Intentions 2". Suprisingly, both the film and sequel share the same writer/director, Roger Kumble.
Yet, they do not share the same cast. Robin Dunne plays Ryan Phillipe's role as Sebastian, leaving the troubles of his middle-of-nowhere school to live with his father and stepmother (Mimi Rogers!), as well as his new sister, Kathryn(Amy Adams, one of the girls from "Drop Dead Gorgeous"). This sequel generally is a re-tread of the original, as the siblings attack each other and generally toy with those around them.
As with a television show, there's generally no suprise that the production values of this sequel are considerably less impressive than the original's mansions. The actors are also lacking in comparison, most notably Adams as Kathryn, who lacks the edge of Gellar's stellar performance in the original. Dunne isn't terrible as Phillipe, but the film lacks a similar character to Selma Blair's in the original, which added a bit of comic relief. With the acting not being quite as strong as the original cast, the
As the series never made it on to the air, there has been some added scenes (one involving twin girls) and dialogue that make this more along the lines of something that would be more likely to be on Cinemax than Fox. Occasionally funny, somewhat watchable, this sequel still suffers from a cast that's not as solid as the original film's as well as a script from Kumble that seems like a rather pale copy. Could have been better, and maybe had the series been able to run at all it would have developed into something interesting - but, we'll never know.
The DVD
VIDEO: Tristar gives "CI2" an anamorphic transfer in the film's original 1.85:1 aspect ratio. It generally looks pretty good, although it varies a bit throughout the film. Sharpness and detail are generally very good, although some scenes occasionally look somewhat on the soft side - and the presentation in general doesn't have much depth to the image.
Some minor flaws pop up throughout. Print flaws are slightly noticable as they appear in the form of some minor speckles and marks. A couple of scenes appear grainy, as well. Minimal amounts of edge enhancement and pixelation are also noticable, but don't prove to be a distraction. Colors are generally bold and enjoyable, with no noticable problems. This is a decent looking presentation, but with the television roots, the "look" of the picture isn't too remarkable. There's a full-frame presentation on the flip-side. English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Chinese, Thai and Korean subtitles are offered.
SOUND: The Dolby Digital 5.1 presentation for this sequel generally follows the same example as the original film - dialogue and music driven throughout. This sequel even has some of the same score as the original picture. Surrounds are infrquently used - they offer some slight ambient sounds and the score, but often remained silent. Audio quality is generally okay, but not particularly remarkable - the music generally doesn't sound too dynamic or have much presence. Dialogue is clear and easily heard.
MENUS:: Menus are non-animated, with very basic images serving as backgrounds. For example, the main menu simply re-uses the front cover.
EXTRAS: Talent files and trailers for "Cruel Intentions 2", "Whipped", "Cruel Intentions", "Girl", "Center Stage", "Loser and "Groove".
Final Thoughts: "Cruel Intentions 2" is a flat re-tread of the original picture, suffering from a cast that isn't nearly as engaging as the first. Tristar gives the film an average presentation and not much in the way of supplemental features. May be worth a rental for fans of the original, but I'd go in with expectations low.
I have to say that I haven't been very entertained by the wave of teen films that have come out in the past few years. There's the occasional minorly entertaining picture such as "10 Things I Hate About You", but more often than not, there's a lot of weak films like "Boys and Girls". One teen film always remains at the front of the pack though - the original "Cruel Intentions". A remake of "Dangerous Liasons", the picture was not "art", but contained entertaining performances and seemed lively and energetic, with good production values, dialogue and acting.
Sure enough, Fox was looking for a show soon after, and they thought that a television version of "Cruel Intentions" might make for a hit. "Manchester Prep" was the series title, and it looked for a while as if it would arrive soon after, only...it never did. Fox had problems with the content of the show and felt that the sexual material in the show wasn't appropriate for television. Not ones to let things go to waste, Tristar re-worked the pilot of the series, which acts as a prequel to the picture, and is releasing it as "Cruel Intentions 2". Suprisingly, both the film and sequel share the same writer/director, Roger Kumble.
Yet, they do not share the same cast. Robin Dunne plays Ryan Phillipe's role as Sebastian, leaving the troubles of his middle-of-nowhere school to live with his father and stepmother (Mimi Rogers!), as well as his new sister, Kathryn(Amy Adams, one of the girls from "Drop Dead Gorgeous"). This sequel generally is a re-tread of the original, as the siblings attack each other and generally toy with those around them.
As with a television show, there's generally no suprise that the production values of this sequel are considerably less impressive than the original's mansions. The actors are also lacking in comparison, most notably Adams as Kathryn, who lacks the edge of Gellar's stellar performance in the original. Dunne isn't terrible as Phillipe, but the film lacks a similar character to Selma Blair's in the original, which added a bit of comic relief. With the acting not being quite as strong as the original cast, the
As the series never made it on to the air, there has been some added scenes (one involving twin girls) and dialogue that make this more along the lines of something that would be more likely to be on Cinemax than Fox. Occasionally funny, somewhat watchable, this sequel still suffers from a cast that's not as solid as the original film's as well as a script from Kumble that seems like a rather pale copy. Could have been better, and maybe had the series been able to run at all it would have developed into something interesting - but, we'll never know.
The DVD
VIDEO: Tristar gives "CI2" an anamorphic transfer in the film's original 1.85:1 aspect ratio. It generally looks pretty good, although it varies a bit throughout the film. Sharpness and detail are generally very good, although some scenes occasionally look somewhat on the soft side - and the presentation in general doesn't have much depth to the image.
Some minor flaws pop up throughout. Print flaws are slightly noticable as they appear in the form of some minor speckles and marks. A couple of scenes appear grainy, as well. Minimal amounts of edge enhancement and pixelation are also noticable, but don't prove to be a distraction. Colors are generally bold and enjoyable, with no noticable problems. This is a decent looking presentation, but with the television roots, the "look" of the picture isn't too remarkable. There's a full-frame presentation on the flip-side. English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Chinese, Thai and Korean subtitles are offered.
SOUND: The Dolby Digital 5.1 presentation for this sequel generally follows the same example as the original film - dialogue and music driven throughout. This sequel even has some of the same score as the original picture. Surrounds are infrquently used - they offer some slight ambient sounds and the score, but often remained silent. Audio quality is generally okay, but not particularly remarkable - the music generally doesn't sound too dynamic or have much presence. Dialogue is clear and easily heard.
MENUS:: Menus are non-animated, with very basic images serving as backgrounds. For example, the main menu simply re-uses the front cover.
EXTRAS: Talent files and trailers for "Cruel Intentions 2", "Whipped", "Cruel Intentions", "Girl", "Center Stage", "Loser and "Groove".
Final Thoughts: "Cruel Intentions 2" is a flat re-tread of the original picture, suffering from a cast that isn't nearly as engaging as the first. Tristar gives the film an average presentation and not much in the way of supplemental features. May be worth a rental for fans of the original, but I'd go in with expectations low.
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