PLOT: Grieving her sister Shiloh’s death, Jax Hunter bonds with Shiloh’s bold friend Luce. Together, they tackle dangerous Mount Kwan in Thailand. When a rockslide traps them on a narrow plank 4,000 feet up, Jax must face her fears to survive.
REVIEW: I really enjoyed Fall when it released in 2022, and it felt like a nice one-and-done story. The mere thought of being stuck so high up with no way down is enough to cause a panic attack, so I guess it shouldn’t be too surprising that we’re getting a sequel. Given that there’s no way in hell that any surviving character would put themselves in a similar situation again, we’re instead following Shiloh’s sister, Jax, as she tries to ascend Mount Kwan in Thailand. But does Fall 2: Deadpoint improve upon the formula or just give us much of the same?
Deadpoint starts off very slowly, and its first act is easily its weakest, failing to garner much interest in either Jax or Luce. But that’s neither actor’s fault, as both Harriet Slater and Arsema Thomas feel perfectly natural in their roles. Slater, in particular, has some very impressive moments. Jax is just a little too resistant to make this seem like anything except a bad idea, however. This parallels Becky’s arc, with Shiloh’s death being her motivator in the same way that Becky’s husband was prior. Luce even feels like a Shiloh clone at times and is just as unlikable. They do enough to show they’re ultimately different, but I would have liked to follow an entirely different group that just so happens to be in a perilous situation. It can only happen to the same people so many times. It’s the John McClane issue.
I was really impressed by Tom Brittney in The Westies, so I was excited to see him show up here. His role doesn’t get a lot of screen time, yet he’s able to do a lot with it. There’s one moment in particular that really saves the character from being too one-note. We do get the return of both Grace Caroline Currey and Virginia Gardner in flashbacks. Curry is completely wasted and feels like nothing more than set dressing. Though it’s funny, I thought Shiloh was an awful person in the first film, and her scenes in this just cement that. Makes it quite ironic that she’s been martyred by so many people and now has her own fandom.
There are a couple of very fun twists in this that I’m sure many will see coming, but I’m a sucker for a good reveal. I simply can’t find myself to dislike a twist, even when they’re too telegraphed or corny. Because, dammit, if they’re not so tropey and stereotypical, it can be hard not to roll your eyes. But they add enough stakes and change things up so things remain interesting. I was also happy to see Deadpoint not try to shoehorn in some random animals as obstacles, as we really didn’t need killer vultures making things more complicated.
The trailers had me a little worried about the FX, but they managed to be mostly impressive. Sure, it’s easy to tell when something is real, fiberglass, or CGI, so that seamlessness isn’t quite there. I still suggest going in with the mindset that this isn’t going to be perfect, but I was expecting some bad compositing like the first, and that never happened. It probably helps that the Spierig brothers have a visual effects background, so they knew how to stretch out their budget. Though there is some absolutely egregious ADR work that is hard to ignore.
One element that is much improved upon is the various hallucinations. It’s easily the worst part of the first film, and mostly just amounted to dumb jump scares. Here, they weave it into the story better, and it’s used more to give information versus solely to trick the audience. The characters are also just given a little more to do since they’re trapped on a mountainside, versus a tall tower.
Fall 2: Deadpoint is the same level of schlockiness as the first one, so if you didn’t like that one, I doubt this will change your mind. But fans of the first should get a kick out of this in the same way. It’s over-the-top and very melodramatic at times, but it has some exciting action and great tension. I just wish they went one film at a time rather than trying to so overtly tease a third film. That’s a trend that needs to die. Still, Deadpoint delivers exactly what I wanted it to.
Fall 2: Deadpoint is now playing in theaters everywhere.
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