The New ‘I Know What You Did Final Summer time’ Betrays Itself From the Very Begin

If you happen to make an I Know What You Did Last Summer movie, one factor has to work above all else. Regardless of the characters “did final summer season” must be unhealthy sufficient for somebody to plausibly return a year later and attempt to kill them. It’s one of many issues the 1997 unique will get proper. A gaggle of (principally) drunk buddies drive on a darkish highway, run into an individual, after which, whereas he might or might not be nonetheless alive, throw his physique into the ocean. Yeah, if I used to be hit by a bunch of drunk youngsters and left for useless, I’d really feel fairly murderous too.

The sequel, which opens in theaters this weekend, doesn’t even get that proper. It thinks it does, crafting a situation that’s just like the one within the unique movie, however if you break it down, the shortage of clearly outlined proper and fallacious undercuts the entire remainder of the film. You by no means really feel like what they “did final summer season” is unhealthy sufficient to warrant that degree of revenge, and consequently, the entire film falls flat. So what occurs? Right here it’s, with spoilers for less than the primary quarter-hour of the film.

A gaggle of buddies leaves a celebration to go to a secret spot to look at fireworks. Most of them are consuming and smoking weed, however Danica (Madelyn Cline) is just not. She’s sober, so she makes it a degree that she’ll be driving. Security first!

On the way in which, her buddies, however particularly her fiancé, Teddy (Tyriq Withers) are fairly tousled. He tries to jokingly distract her (and distracted driving is what brought about the accident within the first film), however ultimately, they make it to the fireworks spot no drawback. As soon as they get there, Teddy is feeling so good, he begins dancing on the street. Whereas in the course of the road, a automotive begins to strategy, and Teddy decides to play hen with it. It will get shut sufficient that Milo (Jonah Hauer-King) has to avoid wasting him, and everybody will get mad at Teddy’s recklessness. That is necessary as a result of it establishes there’s an excellent quantity of highway between the flip and the place Teddy is standing.

Quickly after this, the whole lot goes down. Teddy continues to be within the highway, and a automotive comes by that’s going so extremely quick its driver in some way doesn’t see him. Because the automotive swerves to keep away from Teddy, it finally ends up crashing right into a guardrail and virtually goes over a cliff. With the automotive teetering on the ledge, the group all rush over to avoid wasting the motive force, however the doorways are jammed. They do the whole lot they will, however 5 youngsters can’t pull a pickup truck again from over a cliff, and it will definitely goes over. However not earlier than the motive force positive aspects consciousness, smashes the window, and rips Teddy’s shirt off. This by no means comes again, by the way in which, however it’s a factor that occurs.

Now, ought to Teddy have been within the highway? After all not. However ought to this individual have been driving at an inexpensive sufficient velocity to see him, particularly when the movie establishes there’s loads of highway there? For certain. So, principally, the film misses the mark a number of instances right here. First, the film makes it clear {that a} sober individual is driving, and so they arrive on the location unscathed. Second, Teddy is partially, however not wholly, at fault for the accident, and everybody makes a clearly valiant try to avoid wasting the motive force. Subsequent, Teddy calls the police to report the accident, however then all of them depart as in the event that they weren’t there.

Now, not everyone seems to be joyful about this. They really feel they need to keep there and come clean with it, however the thought is floated that, as a compromise, they’ll go to the police station on the way in which house. Which doesn’t occur and additional pisses off the group. It’s a clumsy trip house, however ultimately, all of them agree by no means to talk of this once more.

To reiterate, Teddy stories the accident to the police. That is after he and others tried to avoid wasting the individual. They don’t deal with the state of affairs completely by any means, however the film makes them rather more forgivable than the group within the unique. Oh, and the automotive doesn’t explode or something when it falls over the cliff. It’s simply there. (Later, we be taught the individual did die.) Both means, the characters don’t do the whole lot proper, however they do sufficient issues proper that you simply at the least really feel like they’re partially not accountable. So, by the following 12 months, when Danica will get that titular observe (solely she will get the observe, by the way in which, so it’s probably not even a factor), as a substitute of “I Know What You Did Final Summer time,” it’s actually extra like “I Know You Made a Man Swerve Off a Cliff by Accident Final Summer time.”

Later within the movie, we be taught some spoilers about who the sufferer was and the way they relate to the killer, which I gained’t destroy right here. It does make the plausibility of why this individual goes on a murderous rampage possibly 5% extra plausible, besides, after 90 minutes of film the place we’re left questioning why this killer is so mad, it’s too little too late. And that’s the brand new I Know What You Did Final Summer time in a nutshell. A legacy sequel to a film that was already fairly unhealthy by itself however in some way doesn’t even perceive why that film labored within the first place.

Need extra io9 information? Try when to anticipate the most recent Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s subsequent for the DC Universe on film and TV, and the whole lot that you must find out about the way forward for Doctor Who.