Igniting their careers through the Thailand produced Bangkok Dangerous, twin brothers Danny Pang and Oxide Pang emerged in a big way on the Hong Kong movie scene with The Eye in 2002. One of the actual good variations of the "I see dead people"-storyline as made popular by The Sixth Sense, style and dramatic effect reigned via the brother's eyes and Angelica Lee's lead performance. Continuing in an unrelated way in the sequel, the spirit world keeps on intruding, this time possibly being threats to pregnant women. Mothers unite against them the filmmakers say but expectedly comes up with a twist that leaves an impression. Too bad it's a late one and that The Eye 2 very much is merely a demo reel partially for the Pang's, not the effective combo with a story as seen prior.

It's certainly not choosing to be as much of a terrorizing journey as The Eye where our lead was portrayed as genuinely frightened of a surrounding she never saw and shouldn't see. Applause Pictures again makes sure this is a solid looking production and having said solid, I mean the setting of The Eye 2 is more laid back and real. With a ghostly (but not ghastly) looking Shu Qi entering the picture exchanging stilted English dialogue with the Thai performers (as per usual for a Pang Brother's movie, a mixture of Thai and Hong Kong personnel was employed behind the scenes as well), there is a feeling of "only" an above average, yet another horror exercise on display. Pang's are active in creating mood via blurry, jazzed up visuals but they're running on an empty gas tank mostly, showing that they can when they in actuality haven't gotten a hall pass to enter these areas.

With Jojo Hui (Three: Going Home) writing you would expect something better served up but the portrayal of Shu Qi's Joey is endangered because everyone involved want to feature basics only. Distraught, depressed and even a bit unsympathetic, get a baby into the picture and the journey towards responsible, protective motherhood begins, wrapped in scenes of threatening horror. It's a starting point that certainly could be only that if the creepy factor does its thing to push the thematic along but while there is a streak of exceptional "I see dead people"-scenes, including another effective elevator scenario by the Pang's (obvious yet subtle CGI aids greatly here), it's simply too slight and doesn't aid much of anything. We understand Joey's protection plot and even when flashing the spirituality scenario in Phillip Kwok's welcome supporting act, it's a backdrop that again is as basic as anything featured before.

But something thankfully happens late as the Pang's and more importantly writer Jojo Hui realizes the potential for the story to go actual emotional places. There's some terrific dramatic development during the end reel at the hospital where intentions of the spirit world takes on a whole new meaning for the film and The Eye 2 definitely goes out on a high note. Shu Qi embodies the needed turmoil and distress to the requisite degree up this point but takes her act up to equal terrific level when the film hits its stride here. Bonus kudos also goes to a few black comedy tangents, at least in this reviewer's mind, where Joey frankly gets fed up with the spirit intrusions.

But another but starts this paragraph as it's too much, too little, too late for The Eye 2 to make as much of a lasting impression compared to any of Danny and Oxide Pang's prior, "big" works. Obviously better than any low-grade quickies to come out of The Sixth Sense-wake, the series at hand manages to feature an end reel that outshines about 10-12 of those cheap cash-in's. It still ain't a complete movie, despite the performers also waking up at exactly the right moments the crew does.

Alright, everything I just said about "The Eye"? Throw that out the window because "The Eye 2" is the polar opposite of its predecessor. The direction of the Pang Brothers is as stylish as ever, but this is just a sequel that did not even need to be made. "The Eye" had a definite sense of closure about it and, really, "The Eye 2" has very little to do with the original film. Everything about it screams ÔWe did this for money!' right down to the casting of global superstar Shu Qi in the lead. No offense to Shu Qi: she is more than adequate in the lead role, but not even her presence could save this movie.

I think the main problem lies in Shu Qi's character. She's a depressed and suicidal young woman. The only proactive things she does in this movie is try to kill herself during the first ten minutes, seek help from a janitor, and then try to kill herself again at the end of the movie. In other words, she's a victim. She's a character who lets everything happen to her and her reaction is usually to just pass out. In fact, she passes out and then wakes up in the hospital at least three or four times during the entire 98 minutes of the film. It gets old really fast. This is not to say that you *can't* write a compelling story about a depressed and suicidal person... but these screenwriters didn't. There comes a point when you have to make your main protagonist actually do something in retaliation against the forces assailing them. It's honestly hard to care for Shu Qi's character when she spends most of the movie crying, screaming, or in the hospital. Shu Qi herself performs all these scenes with aplomb but it just doesn't matter: this not the kind of person you base a movie around.

The rest of "The Eye 2" is filled with the familiar Asian horror clichŽs and "Sixth Sense" retreads. Shu Qi sees dead people, some of which are Asian women with long black hair who float through the air. The movie's most original aspect is its take on reincarnation. I always thought that Buddhists had a rather positive take on the subject but in "The Eye 2" it's not altogether pleasant. It seems that when women are pregnant, the dead soul of someone waiting to be reincarnated hovers beside them until they were ready to give birth. As they're about to deliver their child, the ghost will *swim up the birth canal and into the womb* to be reincarnated within the baby. So, yeah, this is originalÉbut it also looks absolutely ridiculous on film! Imagine a CGI-ghost floating through the air and then straight up a pregnant woman's legs. Yeah, it's just plain silly and it completely ruins the dread-filled tone the Pang Brothers are going for.

It's a shame too, because I like the Pang Brothers. I've liked them since I saw "Bangkok Dangerous". I think they're both talented filmmakers and I'll continue to watch their films, but they completely missed the mark with "The Eye 2", which feels like a slapped-together attempt to cash in on the success of the first one. I'd recommend you avoid it unless you're a die-hard fan of Shu Qi (or you just want to see her vomit, which she does at least twice here). Unfortunately, "The Eye 2" is just another nail in the coffin of Asian horror, which is swiftly becoming a tired and clichŽd genre.

Despite the title, this is not a true sequel, but -- like the first movie -- The Eye 2 tells the story of a young woman who starts seeing ghosts. This time, Hsu's pregnancy is the catalyst for the visions, and as the film goes on, she becomes worried that the ghosts after after her baby. Alternating between madness and reality, she starts to take any means necessary to protect her unborn child.

I'm not too big a fan of the Sixth Sense style of horror. I'd much rather see blood and guts than wispy apparitions. While most of The Eye 2 is relatively claret-free, there are some fairly shocking bits, and the finale is fairly brutal without being overly gruesome. Combined with a nice visual style and a strong performance from Hsu Chi, The Eye 2 is one of the better horror/suspense movies I've seen recently. If you're a fan of the first film, then the second installment is right up your alley.