The Second Arrival (1998)

Sick Product of a Sick System

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

I am evidently in the minority here, but this film is not nearly as bad as everyone says. For myself, the worst part of both films was the incredibly bad global warming science, but other than that, the second movie did a really good job of fleshing out the ideas from the first.I liked the idea that after Zane Ziminski (Charlie Sheen from the first movie) dies, he planned ahead well enough to send packages to five people who will potentially keep up the investigation into the alien invasion. I thought this was a really strong plot point, and it was nicely intertwined throughout the film.The obligatory love interest, Jane Sibbett is a beautiful woman, not a terrible actress, but has a squeaky voice. Patrick Muldoon is not bad in the lead, just kind of one dimensional.To be honest, if you are expecting Godfather II levels of quality for a sequel, you are expecting way too much. In reality though, the first movie was not that good. Charlie Sheen's enthusiasm and quirkiness carried the film, but there are several slow scenes that drag it down for me. I did not find the same to be true for the sequel. I felt it kept its pace really well. As sequels go, it is not terrible, nor is it great. It is a solid film that has its share of flaws, but to say it is terrible in comparison to the first one is not really fare, because this makes it sound like the first one was a masterpiece. it was not. rather, the the first one was a solid b+ film and the second arrival is a solid b- film.

Kevin Tenney's sequel to David Twoey's highly under-seen 1996 original that involved a secret alien invasion and starred Charlie Sheen is a low-budget, straight-to-video exercise that marginally manages to capture some of that mystery, paranoia and intrigue that engulfed the first feature. It does begin strongly (with most of the striking elements appearing then), but soon becomes routine and a little plain. Tenney's directorial methods keep things down-pat with only sudden ripples of fast paced thrills and brazen stunts in an on-the-run format. Nothing out of the ordinary and the suspense can be uneven, but the scenes are executed very well. However it's Bruno Philip's roaming cinematography that gives it a verve-like boost and Ned Bouhalassa's emphatic music score adds to the high octane bursts. The lack of anything really expansive shows its minimal barriers, but this doesn't stop the aspiring imagination and clever concepts that can be found in its drawn up story. It's probably not as thought-provoking, focused and eerie in the material like its predecessor, and the location-choices here don't have that same lasting effect. Still Tenney's old-fashion tailoring keeps it moving along without any real worries. The computer special effects (which do feature largely) look chintzy and formulate some flat images, but for the budget its stands-up. Well that's if you're willing to overlook it, which could be hard. Set-designs in many sequences can look dodgy and plastic, especially towards the climax. There are average performances with Patrick Muldoon and Jane Sibbett leading the way. Michael Sarrazin engages for a short while. A smoking hot Catharine Blythe and the imposable Mike Scherer get all the fun. Decent, but not a patch on the original.

* 1/2 out of ****(warning: review will give spoilers for the original The Arrival, a great sci-fi thriller that I enthusiastically recommend)The Arrival II is an unnecessary follow-up to the original, an inventive and suspenseful sci-fi thriller. Of course, unnecessary follow-ups are a rule of thumb, so a sequel to The Arrival seemed pretty inevitable, especially when you consider its ending. Too bad this "continuation" lacks all the qualities of its predecessors, namely in good writing, acting, and inspired direction. I actually purchased the Arrival II on DVD...as it was a double feature with the original. Before I even popped the film in, I was expecting ...from the first minute, so the best thing I can say is that the movie turned out to be a bit more watchable than I expected.The Arrival II is set in Montreal, two months after the events of the original. Radio astronomer Zane Zaminski has died of an apparent heart attack, but he did manage to send out info of the alien invasion to his most trusted colleagues, as well as to his stepbrother, Jack Addison (Patrick Muldoon), and a news reporter (Jane Sibbett, Ross' lesbian ex-wife from Friends). This group becomes the targets of the aliens, until the only survivors are Muldoon and Sibbett, who go on the run together and try to expose the aliens' nefarious plans.The Arrival II suffers distinctly from a lack of freshness, which is much needed in a sequel that's meant to continue a running story. All the material we have here is pretty much repeat. Basically, we know there are aliens out there disguised as human beings and they're whole goal is to terraform the Earth and mold it into an environment suitable for their own colonization. Oh, and let's not forget that spherical object with a strong vacuum pull.Like the original, we've got our "intelligent" protagonist (we find this out because everyone keeps telling him he's smarter than he thinks) and blonde chick that plays as love interest. Problem is, these two are played by Patrick Muldoon and Jane Sibbett, neither of whom I've seen in anything on film or TV that suggests they can act. Muldoon is mostly expressionless, though occasionally has that "whoa, dude" act that would give Freddie Prinze, Jr. a run for his money. Sibbett is simply dreadful as the reporter. Let's put it this way, those who found Courtney Cox unconvincing as Gail Weathers in the Scream series will be shouting "Come back! All is forgiven!" The other performances aren't worth noting, except maybe Catherine Blythe, who gives the movie its sole bit of very gratuitous nudity (now that I think about it, the filmmakers should have switched roles between Blythe and Sibbett considering the former is far better an actress and prettier, too).The script has little to none of the intelligence of the original and it often mistakes scientific mumbo-jumbo as smart screenwriting. The plot's got a lot of twists and turns, mostly involving a guessing game of who's human and who's not. None of these little revelations are the slightest bit surprising, and they might even induce a few scoffs here and there.The special effects on display range from pretty bad to hilariously awful, the worst bit probably being when one of the aliens reveals its true identity. There are a lot of other clunkers, such as the cheesy-looking holographic displays and the destruction of a power plant in the film's conclusion. Yeah, visual effects themselves usually don't determine a movie's quality, but they sure don't help the film here.Directed by Kevin S. Tenney, the same guy who gave us the fun Night of the Demons, but has yet to have helmed anything worth seeing since then. For some reason, though, The Arrival II is still somewhat watchable (meaning you won't want to stab yourself in the eye), probably because the concept of aliens disguised as humans is intriguing enough on its own. Too bad this suspenseless and absurd sequel can't capitalize on the original's unique ideas.

The Arrival II in My honest opinion is just a ok sequel. I was much more pleased with the original as it didn't have any sex or any think like that plus it showed the great looking aliens a lot more and views of the sky.Don't get Me wrong here the movie is not boring or dull its just that I think that the original one is the better of the two but if you like the Arrival and haven't seen the sequel then check it out and see what you think!