Mirrors 2 (Blu-ray / DVD)
Steve Barton
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Reviewed by Uncle Creepy
Starring Nick Stahl, Emmanuelle Vaugier, Evan Jones, Christy Carlson Romano, William Katt
Directed by Victor Garcia
Distributed by 20th Century Fox
While direct-to-video movies have on the whole gotten a lot better thanks to both the studios and the indie labels putting out movies we may not otherwise see, DTV sequels remain a bit of a mixed bag that frequently find themselves on the crappy side of the fence. Victor Garcia’s Mirrors 2 does its best to buck that trend and nearly gets the job done.
First off this flick has little to do with the original Mirrors starring Keifer Sutherland. Its only tie to that movie lies in the fact that in an effort to honor the legacy of the once posh New York department store, the owner of the New Orleans branch (a nearly unrecognizable William Katt) decides to import one of that building’s mirrors to his location to be put on display. From there Max (Stahl), who is Katt’s unemployed son, takes a job as a night watchman after the original dude ends up being the victim of a horrible glass-induced incident. Once on the job, Max begins to have gruesome visions of his fellow employees that end with his cohorts being found very dead. So the question beckons … who is killing the crew? Is Max going out of his mind? And will that nasty deadite-like bitch from the first flick ever rear her head again? To find out you’re going to have to watch the movie for yourself.
Surprisingly enough, Mirrors 2 is home to some of the gorier kills we’ve seen all year. It starts off fast and frighteningly furious with a steady body count mounting nicely. But then it happens. Somewhere around the middle of the movie it comes time for some exposition to explain what is happening, and as a result the quick and steady proceedings are all but grinded to a halt by an over-explanation of what we’re seeing along with some Texas-sized plot holes. In fact, once we have an idea of what’s going on, the body count decreases drastically, leaving the flick pretty much front-loaded on the fun. Things pick up a bit toward the end, but by the time the pace quickens again, most of our investment is gone.
Available on both DVD and Blu-ray, Mirrors 2 looks pretty damned amazing and crisp in high definition. The DVD gets the job done, but really there is no comparing the two. If you have the HD tech, this one is a no-brainer.
In terms of special features both packages share the same exact stuff with the exception of the Blu-ray exclusive that lets you watch Mirrors 2 with the ‘Woman in the Mirror’ via picture-in-picture. Mainly we get two featurettes; one is your standard nine-minute making-of, and the other a just over twelve-minute look at the flick’s effects work. Add on a couple of moments of deleted scenes, and we’re finished.
The best part of each package, though, comes with the inclusion of the Korean film that the original Mirrors was based upon titled Into the Mirror. This little slice of spookery is better than either American film and is a fantastic addition to this package. Good on you for including it, Fox!
In the end Mirrors 2 ends up being completely on par with the original terror tale from Alexandre Aja. The only problem is that movie kind of sucks, too, so that’s not exactly high praise. A good time killer and nothing more.
Special Features
Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack Contents:
Disc One (Blu-ray):
Disc Two (DVD):
Side One:
Side Two:
Single-Disc DVD Contents:
Side One:
Side Two:
2 1/2 out of 5
Special Features:
3 out of 5
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