Money may not buy happiness, but it does buy special effects. Wishmaster benefited from a decent budget that allowed for insane death sequences and detailed sets. The creative team behind Wishmaster 2: Evil Never Dies didn't have that luxury. It doesn't have a clever script to fall back on either. This sequel is everything its predecessor wasn't. On the bright side, Andrew Divoff returns as The Djinn. He gives another compelling performance as everyone's favorite evil genie, but it's never explained why The Djinn's human guise looks like Andrew Divoff.
That's what pisses me off more than anything else. I can deal with tacky effects, but this movie just doesn't make sense. Hell, half of the wishes aren't wishes. At one point, a cop yells "freeze." He doesn't ask to be encased in a block of ice, but guess what? That's what happens! Plus, it only takes our heroine a few hours to assume that her friend's death was somehow related to Arabian folklore. Huh??? And why does The Djinn spend so much time hanging out with a repellent sot? Is he that bored? Admittedly, the scenes of Divoff being a complete asshole in prison were pretty funny.
Is Wishmaster 2 gory, you ask? Well, yeah, but not in a "holy shit" kind of way. There are several amusing kills, but this film doesn't rival the original in the bloodshed department. On the casting front, Holly Fields isn't nearly as endearing as Tammy Lauren. None of the characters are developed. If I wasn't so enamored with the first Wishmaster entry, I might be a little more forgiving with the sequels. Before you ask, no! I'm not reviewing the rest of this series. I need to move on with my life.
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