F/X2 (1991)

Instant Favorite.

Best movie ever!

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Rollie Tyler is now a toymaker. Mike, the ex-husband of his girlfriend Kim, asks Rollie to help catch a killer. The operation goes well until an unknown party kills Mike. Mike's boss, says it was the killer who killed Mike but Rollie knows it wasn't. Obviously, he is involved with Mike's death, so he calls on Leo McCarthy, his close friend for help, and they discover it's not just the killer and the corrupt cops they have to worry about.......The first film was a moderate success when released, and the chemistry between Brown And Dennehy was sensational, so its not hugely surprising that a sequel was green lit.And while it's not the greatest film ever made, in fact, it's quite an incoherent mess at times, but just for the absurdity of it all, and the smugness of Dennehy, its a blast from beginning to end.Any film featuring a transvestite with a rocket launcher for an arm, a dancing clown suit, and a sausage firing machine, just begs to be seen.It's unashamedly tacky, one of those films that was struggling to adjust from the eighties, so we have your stereotypical bad cops, the woman who say yes to going to Jamaica after they haven't seen the guy for years, and of course, drinking and driving is an acceptable past time.But the chemistry is still there, the soundtrack is hilarious, and it looked like the cast and crew had a nice little holiday out of it by the look of the final scene.

The special effects in "F/X 2" from director Richard Franklin are quite impressive in a movie that, unfortunately, relies entirely upon them alone to carry it. Franklin opens his pic in the same manner as the first, that is, a film within a film."The Deadly Art of Illusion" lacks the edge of the seat plot line and very good performances of the first. Bryan Brown and Brian Dennehy are only likable in this "F/X", and no more. Rachel Ticotin and Joanna Gleason add little to proceedings. Bill Condon's story (based upon original characters created by Robert T. Megginson and Gregory Fleeman) is along the same lines as the first, but nowhere near as good.Monday, July 15, 1991 - Hoyts Forest Hill Chase

I first saw this movie years ago on TV and have loved it ever since. I saw the original a couple of months back, and I must say I was disappointed. FX2, however is thoroughly enjoyable, with great actors, exciting action sequences (especially the supermarket scene) brilliant special effects and includes several humorous scenes as well. If you saw the original, liked the concept but didn't enjoy the movie, check out FX2, you'll be pleasantly surprised. Right from the opening horror movie sequence, right to the battle at the end, FX2 is a fantastic movie that has put itself back on top after the disappointing original. 9/10

People who prefer coherent stories shouldn't even touch F/X2 with a pole of any length. But those who can browse through books for the scenes with action might enjoy F/X2. The plot is secondary, like the plots of street fighting video games like Tekken or Killer Instinct. This plot only serves to link all the special effects together, so F/X2 becomes more than a random montage of clever escapes and neat toys, all engineered by the main character Rollie, who is a former special effects creator played in the most charismatic way possible by Bryan Brown.Despite the sparse plot, the escapes and the toys really are fun to watch, especially the famous supermarket scene and the strange creation Bluey the Clown. The "witty banter" between the characters is pretty much survivable. But under no circumstances should a person attempt to pay close attention to this movie. The narrow escapes may be fun and showy to watch (the main character is a special effects engineer, after all), but the getting there is pretty tedious. Distract yourself along the way: fold the laundry, hold a cocktail party, balance your checkbook, or browse the Internet, and just pay attention again during the fun bits. You won't be missing much in between.