Legendary failure

By Michael Watanabe
Daily Forty-Niner

Though keeping the "Urban Legends" name, "Urban Legends: Final Cut" cannot truly be called a sequel. The only connection to the first movie are the urban legend killings and Reese Wilson (Loretta Devine), a small-time police officer.

Wilson, who was the officer in the first "Urban Legend," refused to go along with a conspiracy to cover up the killings in the first movie and was subsequently fired.

Wilson tells Amy Mayfield (Jennifer Morrison), an Alpine University film student, of the killings.  Mayfield, desperate for a thesis topic, decides to make a movie about a serial killer that kills based on urban legends.

During the filming, people start to die from the very legends they are portraying. Though coincidence points to several disappearances, Mayfield suspects more.

Judged on its own merits, "Final Cut" has unexpected, original lines of comedy, that were original and fresh.

Like many contemporary horror movies, there was a surprise ending, but unlike most movies, "Final Cut" actually succeeded in surprising.

Like the original, this movie is cliché. Each of the actors played their roles well, but the script did not allow the audience to draw any of their own conclusions, each scene was explained in detail.

The film had one major flaw. A movie about urban legends should contain known legends. Most of the legends in the film had to be explained, and were producing a dumbing-down effect.

The legends presented are not followed strictly either. The victims do not die strictly from the legends they are supposed to be emulating.

"Final Cut" has its moments of comedy and shining characters, but ultimately fails to provide a new look at the rote horror movie plot.