Backdraft 2 (Review & Commentary)
Transcribed directly from an audio recording
I was offered a free rental from the Canadian cinema chain Cineplex the other day and I happened to come across Backdraft 2 on their online rental platform. I was completely unaware of its existence which is surprising given my love for cinema as well as my habit of continually monitoring the activity in the film business. I am a huge fan of the original Backdraft so I was, at the very least, intrigued to check out the sequel, especially given that I was offered a free rental. William Baldwin and Donald Sutherland even reprised their roles from the original film, which was even more surprising. I’ve now seen this film twice and what I will say is this: it’s not a terrible film, but it is absolutely nowhere near the quality of the original film in any aspect. After researching why I missed the release of the film, I discovered that the reason for this is the fact that is was released direct-to-video without any promotion whatsoever. It quietly slid onto only a couple of streaming platforms hoping to capitalize on the name alone. The reviews online have been relatively negative, with most commenting that it wasn’t absolutely terrible, but it doesn’t deserve to be called a Backdraft sequel. In my opinion, the film’s plot is intriguing enough, but it’s beyond obvious that the budget was nowhere near what the original was and this is very obvious in the final product. There is a particular scene that features license plates from Ontario even though this story takes place in Chicago. For context, this film was filmed in Toronto. Even some close-up scenes show Illinois license plates which further adds to this obvious slip. The most telling scene of the limited budget is the death of one of the main characters. In the original, the death scene of two main characters is given plenty of attention with over ten minutes of screen time with thousands of extras in a prominent downtown location. In this film, a similar scene shows around a dozen extra’s only filmed in a generic location which ultimately is less than two minutes in the film. The last obvious display of the reduced budget is the fact that this film uses CGI fire instead of the real thing, a component that was particularly important to the original filmmaker Ron Howard. The bottom line is this, should you see this film? If you are a fan of the original Backdraft, then check this out. It adds a little bit more to the story of the McCaffrey’s. It’s by no means a great film, heck it’s not even a good film, but as I said, if you liked the original and have a few hours to kill, it’s at least worth a viewing.
This also led me to think about sequels in general, a topic I think about often. Many non-cinema fans often say that sequels are awful and nowhere near the quality of the original. I often argue this point quite vehemently because I wholeheartedly disagree. The history of cinema has shown us that there are plenty of superior sequels that have been produced. I have covered this in many other postings, but films like Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, The Godfather Part II, Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior, Addams Family Values, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, The Dark Knight, Star Wars: Episode V — The Empire Strikes Back and Terminator 2: Judgement Day are all prime examples of superior sequels. I fundamentally believe that sequels can be better than the original if the filmmakers have the right intention and by that I mean, the intention is not predicated on a monetary return. If the filmmaker aims at honing in on what worked well in the original and improving upon it, most sequels, in my opinion, are far better. If the studio or filmmaker is solely looking to capitalize on the name of the original and is not focused in any way on providing a superior product, then the sequel will be much worse and in fairness, we’ve seen plenty examples of this. Films like Kindergarten Cop 2, Cop and a Half: New Recruit, and Slap Shot 2: Breaking the Ice are examples of studios trying to capitalize on the name and notoriety of the original film.
In summary, are there plenty of great sequels out there that are far superior to the original? Absolutely yes. Are there terrible sequels that don’t deserve sharing the name of the original? One hundred percent. When choosing a sequel, it’s important to ask yourself: has this sequel been made to capitalize on the name of the original or does this look like an improvement? A tell-tale sign is a direct-to-video release. Just like Backdraft 2, sequels like this seem to be aimed at trying to earn money based on the success of the original. What are your thoughts and what are some of your favourite or hated sequels?
