Cruel Intentions 2 - Movie Review

Rating: 2 out of 5

So here's the story. Cruel Intentions was a moderate success in the theaters back in 1999, so they figured they'd turn it into a TV show. Intended as a prequel to the film, it would be called Manchester Prep, tracing the early strife between Kathryn and Sebastian. Manchester Prep turned out to be so bad they cancelled it before a single episode ever aired.

So what do you do with all that footage? Release it as a movie!

It's easy to see why they cancelled the show. Cruel Intentions 2 is not good. I thought the original was a snarky, guilty pleasure, but the second coming is barely even fit for UPN. Supplementing a pilot episode with some extra profanity, more sexual innuendo, and a pair of nude twins in a shower, you quickly learn that replacement stars Amy Adams, Robin Dunne, and Sarah Thompson are not equal to Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe, and Reese Witherspoon from the original. Though the plot is virtually identical to Cruel Intentions (notable exception: Sebastian (Dunne) is legitimately trying to straighten up from his naughty ways), there's not much here to make you think Manchester Prep had been intended as a drama instead of a comedy.

Painfully miscast is Amy Adams (the slut cheerleader from Drop Dead Gorgeous), who has none of the grace and style of Gellar in the role of Kathryn. She's laughable whenever she's on screen, and as the leading role, that's most of the time. Dunne and Thompson (as the goody-goody girl he's after this time) are just fine, but they hardly make up the difference. And oddly enough, Roger Kumble wrote and directed this follow-up as well as the original. It's amazing he couldn't have come up with something a little more compelling.

Aka Cruel Intentions II.

Facts and Figures

Year: 2000

Run time: 87 mins

In Theaters: Tuesday 13th March 2001

Distributed by: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Production compaines: Newmarket Capital Group, Original Film, Columbia TriStar Television

Reviews

Contactmusic.com: 2 / 5

Rotten Tomatoes: 18%
Fresh: 2 Rotten: 9

IMDB: 4.3 / 10

Cast & Crew

Director: Roger Kumble

Producer: Heather Zeegen

Screenwriter: Roger Kumble

Starring: Robin Dunne as Sebastian Valmont, Sarah Thompson as Danielle Sherman, Amy Adams as Kathryn Merteuil, Barry Flatman as Headmaster Sherman, Mimi Rogers as Tiffany Merteuil, Barclay Hope as Mr. Felder, Tane McClure as Bunny Claymon, Teresa Hill as Lilly, Keri Lynn Pratt as Cherie Claymon, David McIlwraith as Edward Valmont, Jonathan Potts as Assistant Headmaster Steve Muller

Also starring: Deanna Wright, Heather Zeegen, Roger Kumble