Urban Legends: Final Cut

With the same budget, but only half the box office returns, it is safe to say that Urban Legends: Final Cut was not as well-received, but that feels like a disservice to its existence. Not every sequel can be a megahit, after all, but I will not ignore the fact that it feels like a pale imitation of its predecessor.

Urban Legends: Final Cut was dedicated to a group of film students working on their thesis film, and a killer who stalks their school to try and eliminate them for enigmatic reasons. The story follows Amy Mayfield (Jennifer Morrison in one of her earliest roles), a student at Alpine University whose film becomes the killer’s target. She decides to make her thesis film about a serial killer murdering people through urban legends, which upsets her cameraman, Toby Belcher (Anson Mount), who accuses her of stealing his film idea. As work on Amy’s film unfolds, we are introduced to the main cast, who are the cast and crew of her thesis film.

Sandra Petruzzi (Jessica Cauffiel) is first introduced as a seemingly doomed spring breaker in a plane, but just as it seems her death is assured, Toby Belcher (Anson Mount) jumps against the windshield of the cockpit, revealing that it’s a film set. This is where the core characters are introduced, amid a slew of others who are just along for the ride. Yani Gellman has a blink-and-you-will-miss-it role as Sandra’s boyfriend on the plane, for example. Vanessa Valderon (Eva Mendes), a young lesbian with the boom mic, is also introduced here. Through the film’s opening, we are treated to the process at Alpine University where these students take on varying roles in one another’s films to help them take their craft to the next level and challenge one another in a safe environment.

The rest of the characters include Stan Washington (Anthony Anderson), Dirk Reynolds (Michael Bacall), and Schrom “Simon” Jabuscko (Marco Hofschneider), who play a vital role in the production of Amy’s thesis film. Graham Manning (Joey Lawerence) is introduced during the funeral of Travis Stark (Matthew Davis), the twin brother of Trevor, whose primary function early on in the film is to provide the exposition of Amy’s past – her father was a famous documentarian.

While it initially feels like it’s just exposition, we later learn that Amy’s father is the core motivation for the killer’s actions, at least where their backstory is concerned. The inciting incident, as we are aware, is the death of Lisa (Jacinda Barrett), who is murdered via the first urban legend – technically. Her kidney is stolen while she is unconscious, but decapitation was not an actual facet of that particular legend. Urban Legend set itself up to tackle all of the major ones, leaving the less famous ones for any follow-ups. However, even the ones with little fanfare are still harrowing when executed well, and Final Cut’s setup provides cover for the movie itself to tackle the more divisive ones fictionally rather than in reality. ‘Does the dog die?’ can sit this one out, because it’s a prop and not a real, beloved pet dog on the chopping block this time around.

Sandra’s inability to act is a consistent criticism of her as an actress. Her planned departure for Los Angeles the day after filming a scene for Amy’s movie provides the perfect cover for her permanent exit through stage left. Simon’s death while Amy is recording loud screams, during which his death is also recorded, is dismissed by authorities as a prank at best or a coincidence.

During the film itself, the only major character to return from the first film is Reese Wilson (Loretta Devine), who is once again acting as campus security for a university under siege by a masked serial killer. What makes her character frustrating this time around is that she has experienced something like this before, but is fervently disbelieving of Amy after Amy’s first encounter with the serial killer around the halfway point of the film. Even accepting the possibility that vandals are responsible for the damage to the sound studio, it feels utterly contemptuous to outright ignore somebody claiming to have been attacked. The fact that two more students are killed, via electrocution in the carnival ride for a setup to Amy’s film, and are outright ignored despite her claims of seeing the killer again, leads one to the conclusion that Alpine University might be more prestigious in its stupidity than anything else.

Urban Legends: Final Cut was not trying to be a masterpiece. It was an entertaining popcorn flick, a follow-up to a film with a very interesting concept. Perhaps that is the film’s weakest aspect. It has an incredibly fascinating concept to build its story and characters through, but it feels like it didn’t want to commit to it as well as it could have. The characters all have personality, which serves as a type of depth, but this is one of those times where I truly believe that a longer running time would have benefited it significantly. The revelation that it was a different film where the victim pool was being pulled was a mystery running beneath the surface of the entire story. It is up to you whether or not, by the time it was revealed, it landed effectively.

Scream set up a particular formula for its inherent success, and Urban Legends: Final Cut feels like it wanted to cash in on that particular brand without dedicating the time and effort to utilize it. Jennifer Morrison provides a phenomenal take on Amy, and she is surrounded by cast members we know are great actors – their longstanding careers are proof of that. I would have loved to have spent more time with some of those characters before their untimely demises. Granted, for my personal preference, this film serves as a good successor to its originator.

Where the first film ended with the notion that the entire story was just a group of friends recounting a purported legend at their school, this one uses its ending for a completely different twist. That it set itself up for a sequel that we did not actually get is the biggest letdown of this franchise.