Carley R
Loved it but when will next one be out
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
01/05/24
Full Review
Trina H
What a piece of crap movie. These types of movies are the reason I just cannot support black movies. It is really disappointing. 97% of the black movies I attempted to support the black characters always demeaning their selves by calling each other NI word. IT IS DESCRACEFULL!!! THIS GOD AWFUL MOVIE IS NO ACCEPTION.
Rated 1/5 Stars •
Rated 1 out of 5 stars
09/05/23
Full Review
Audience Member
For a sequel that, at first, felt very unnecessary, it could have been much worse than it was. Animal 2 takes place some time after the first one and thrusts us right back into the story and actually has somewhere to go.
One thing I noticed just as soon as it started, the Terrence Howard change didn't bother or distract as much as I thought it would, they explain in the first few minutes who Vicellous Reon Shannon's character was, probably on purpose. I have no choice but to accept it, it's not like it's going to change if I complain about it. I haven't been able to find a reason why Howard didn't come back, I have a few ideas as to why but that has nothing to do if whether or not the film was any good so I'll leave it out. The actor they got to replace him did a good job, actually, he seemed more fitting for the part anyway. Although it is weird to believe that his character, Darius, is much older than K.C. Collins' character, James Jr., because Shannon looks very young, even so, it's nothing that I over thought, I just accepted it for what it was.
Like I mentioned before, it did feel unnecessary but it does have things to do and places to go. Even if some of the logic of it all is misplaced, not like it bothered me because it's not like they had millions to make this with, it still is a good drama even if it didn't feel as urgent or as powerful as the first one did. The film offers a few storylines that all fit in with each other at some point. I liked that it kept jumping from inside the prison to outside and showed how they both worked together. The script offers some funny one liners here and there and some other funny moments. Like I always say, no matter how dark or bleak a situation is, there will always be funny moments there. Like the first film, the music was really good.
Rhames still does well and plays the character the same way as he did before. One complaint I have with it though is that it doesn't feel as unrestrained as before and he looks a bit different too. Rhames in the first film was excellent and he really embraced that character, it felt like a performance that someone would give to be nominated for an Oscar. I say this because he just jumped head over heels into the character and became that character. He was still good here, great even, but something felt different, he certainly wasn't on screen as much as before, that's for damn sure and maybe that has something to do with it. Special mention if Kedar Brown who plays the very cool and smooth Lou, whenever he was on screen you were just listening to what he was saying.
The only complaint I can really find in this is that there's a big build up to a court scene involving a video tape, blackmail, drugs and a few other things, it got to about 6 minutes left in the film and it gets referenced in one line, that whole case was happening off screen and we never see it happen. This isn't a courtroom drama film but it would have been nice to see even a little bit of what was going on.
I know, in a direct to DVD film you can't be expecting the best of the best, but that was only a little thing I could thing of and it isn't even that bad, it's not like they forgot about that storyline. I have read some complaints from others on other websites and some of the things they bring up, while no film should be above criticism, it does seem a little silly to be nitpicking all the little things that look off or that the sound was a bit inconsistent, what are you expecting? For a sequel to a film that already went direct to DVD to be this good? That doesn't happen all too often. To me at least, even looking at the DVD cover of this shows that effort was put into this. I could see an Animal 3 happening that shows more of the boys lives from here on out and more of Animal in prison but I don't see it happening anytime soon, but if it does? I'll be up for it, only if it's made as well as these two were.
I've been wondering though, was the first one meant to go to the big screen but in limited release? It did have bigger stars in it and a fair few people did see it, no, that can't be it because the budget for the first one was lower than this one was. Who knows? All I know is that both are very well made character dramas improved by excellent acting.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
02/25/23
Full Review
Audience Member
at first i thought this was a sequel to interesting indie animal factory, god knows why, and im sure i havent seen animal, or heard of it, but anywayt, this wasent very good or interesting, a dull prison drama and predictable plot involving a set up outside the prison to get inmate to agree to things, not very good
Rated 1.5/5 Stars •
Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars
02/20/23
Full Review
Audience Member
ving rhames. what can i say. brilliant
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
01/31/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Straight to DVD type material...again a 3am movie on Showtime so can't expect much.
Rated 2/5 Stars •
Rated 2 out of 5 stars
01/16/23
Full Review
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