American Psycho 2: All American Girl (2002)
Directed by Morgan J. Freeman
Written by Karen Craig, Alex Sanger
Starring Mila Kunis, William Shatner, Lindy Booth
Release Date June 18th, 2002
Published June 18th, 2002
Bret Easton Ellis is one twisted SOB. His novel American Psycho, adapted for the screen in 2000 starring Christian Bale, is a twisted pop culture salad of axe murders and pop references to Huey Lewis and the News, Genesis and Whitney Houston. The film version, while not as good as the book (they never are,) benefited from having a stellar indie cast including Bale, Jared Leto, Reese Witherspoon and Chloe Sevigny.
The sequel, on the other hand, has William Shatner.
The sequel’s connection to the original is so insignificant that I need not mention it, let's just say it provides the lead with her very thin motivation. The lead in American Psycho 2 is “That 70's Show's” Mila Kunis. As Rachael Newman, Kunis is a psychotically ambitious college student hell-bent on getting a teacher’s assistant job that will almost guarantee her getting into the FBI. The teacher, Robert Starkman (Shatner), is a former FBI agent who's final case was the Bateman killings, which remain unsolved. Standing in Rachael's way are 3 students so insignificantly painted that I need not describe them. Needless to say they are easily dispatched.
For some inconceivable reason Rachael decides to see a psychiatrist in the middle of her killing spree. She isn't there to confess, but rather to provide clues so that later on the psychiatrist played by Garant Wyn Davies can be the hero and try to solve the crime. Whether he solves it or not I won't say, though it doesn't really matter. By the end of American Psycho 2 the whole thing is so superfluous and the mystery so ridiculous you couldn't force yourself to care.
Kunis is badly miscast. She lacks the menacing sexuality of a Rose McGowan or the pop culture bitch cred of a Shannen Doherty, both of whom might have made for a more interesting film. The original American Psycho was an amalgam of pop culture and psychotic ax wielding, especially memorable was Bateman's dispatching of a victim while extolling the virtues of Huey Lewis & the News as “Hip To Be Square” played in the background. The sequel has none of that flair. It is essentially just a slasher movie and a bit of ripoff.
Does anyone recall the movie Getting In with Kristy Swanson and Matthew Perry? Same idea, psycho killer taking out the competition for a coveted scholarship. Sequels are usually bad enough without being a ripoff.
