Lake Placid 2

I've come to expect very little out of the SciFi channel's made for TV movies, but this ranks tight alongside of "Babylon 5: Legend of the Rangers" as am egregious example of how SciFi's clueless network suits can prostitute a great work with an appallingly bad sequel.

I'm a great fan of the original "Lake Placid". David E. Kelly's writing in the original is among the sharpest of any film in memory. It had a delightfully witty script and excellent performances by talented actors. The characters were well textured without a stereotype among them.

By comparison, the script of this film is drek. Thre is almost no wit evident. It's trite and formulaic. The characters are all 2-dimensional stereotypes from central casting. The "special" effects were everything I've come to expect from SciFi channel movies - ham-fisted and amateurish.

I might have given this film a rating of 2 or 3, but for potentially tainting the reputation of the original, I give it a 1 - but only because there's no option to give it a zero!

Lake Placid 2 (2007)

** (out of 4)

A sheriff, a PETA loving vet and a bounty hunter are trying to stop several large crocs who keep eating the locals. The sheriff also has to worry about his teenage son and friends as well as a crazy old woman (Cloris Leachman) who might be feeding the beasts. As I said, this film is somewhat better than the original because it doesn't take itself too serious. None of the actors are very good but they are entertaining enough to keep the film going whenever the monster isn't on screen. What really kills the film are the horrible CGI gore effects and CGI crocs. The crocs are so fake looking that you can never take them too serious. The film might be worse than I'm giving it credit for but it seems the director was trying to make things a tad bit silly with some over the top goofiness. I'm sure fans of the original movie aren't going to enjoy the step down in terms of quality actors but if you've seen enough of these "nature attack" movies then you know there's much worse out there.

The first Lake Placid was the type of movie that you loved or hated. I loved it. The actors had chemistry. The script was clever. The key was to take it for what it was. A lot of people did and it developed a cult following.

I wanted to love II. But, it wasn't there. I think they tried. But chemistry and hitting the exact same note is hard. I think they put together a good cast. The writing was supposed to make you grin. It just didn't pull together tight enough. Nice Try. Lake Placid a tough film to duplicate on any level.

I think a lot of the fans of the first one went into it with the right frame of mind. If you didn't see the first one you may not understand the choices they went with as far as corny dialogue and silliness. Maybe they can bring back Ms. Fonda for 3!

I'd seen Lake Placid at a friend's house one night, and thought it entertaining, so I was happy to see a sequel was going to be shown. Now though, I have to say I wish they hadn't bothered. Overall, the movie is just poorly done. The acting is terrible; even John Schneider, who I usually enjoy, disappointed me. I'd equate the acting in the film with a middle school performance. And something was off with the sound- it almost sounds like they pre-recorded all the lines, and just matched it up with the film.

The special effects, if possible, are even worse than the acting. Very fake looking, and extremely amateur; this looks like a high school project! There are several times when you can see parts of the crocodiles magically pass through things.

On the plus side, little as it is, some of the characters were mildly entertaining in the sense that the acting was so terrible. There's one actor in particular who screamed like a girl, and that made me laugh. I'll also add that if you saw and liked the first, you may want to watch this just to satisfy your curiosity. Beyond that though, it's not worth it.

with a few nods to the original film, including Cloris Leachman playing the sister of Betty White's unforgettable foul-mouthed character from the original, this film tries to step up to the plate. apparently set a few years after the original, there are suddenly more deaths, and, guess what? a croc in the lake. actually, 3 this time around. John Schneider plays the sheriff and a cast of "looks-familiar-but-don't-know their-name" fills in the rest of the menu. the CGI is there, really noticeable and really bad, as it is in most of the sci-fi channel movies. at least there are some good-looking stereotyped kids thrown into the mix this time, camping at the lake at the worst possible time. David Kelly's original script had some intelligence, great character development and nicely-done humor that is really missing here. i give them credit for trying, but it's lacking...well....almost everything.