In order to ascertain the current situation inside, a supposed medical officer and a GEO team step into the quarantined and ill-fated apartment building.
After the huge success of “[Rec]” we all knew a sequel was only a matter of time.
Luckily for us viewers the crew took their time and didn’t rush into it, the writers were patient and helped flesh out a story that would satisfy fans. The film pretty much carries on from the first feature but this time we see the perspective from the SWAT team breaking into the building and once again you are put at the forefront of the story and feel connected to what’s going on.
It still had lots of creepy moments and despite some more humorous moments being put in it still managed to maintain a high degree of intensity throughout, this was something I was afraid would be lost as we’ve seen it happen so many times. I know it’s hard to keep a certain atmosphere and sometimes the comedy can be a relief but sometimes it’s story padding but fortunately for us it was well used.
This isn’t the first a small budget film broke into the mainstream and then once the inevitable sequel rolled around that’s when I started to get nervous about it, we’ve seen it so many times where once the initial surprise was gone and expectations were raised and then ultimately the sequel was a huge disappointment. It was a relief as a viewer to see that this mistake didn’t happen.
Once again the divisive ‘shaky cam’ method was used, as it was expected to be as we had already witnessed it being used in the first film. Personally, I don’t understand the hate for it, it an make a movie even more frightening as you are unaware of certain things going on around you and people would only call it unrealistic if the angles were straight, there’s no winning really.
“[Rec] 2” is a fantastic sequel to a fantastic film and you can’t ask for much more than that.
Miscellaneous facts about the film:
Pablo Rosso, the camera from the original [Rec] (2007), returns this time as the SWAT member Rosso.
The SWAT team, police and crowd of onlookers outside the building were real people, not actors.
A much bigger production than its predecessor, this employed over 300 extras.
The constant presence of helicopters buzzing overhead was created entirely by the sound team. The production couldn’t afford any real helicopters.
The clothes worn by Manuela Velasco were exactly the same that she worn in the original [Rec] (2007) movie.
A lot of the zombie shrieking was added in at post-production stage. To shoot with numerous actors shrieking constantly would have meant that all the dialog would have been drowned out. Adding it in afterward meant that the sound technicians could manipulate the noise to its best advantage.
The directors were very keen to give the film the additional vibe of a first person shooter video game, where the audience feels personally drawn into the action onscreen. For that reason, the barrel of a gun is in the foreground of a lot of shots.
The actors playing the Special Forces team were given a day’s intensive training in how to handle firearms.
A lot of the footage in the film was actually shot by the actors playing the Special Forces team as they all had helmet-mounted cameras.
A problem the production encountered when filming for the sewers sequences was that the temperature difference compared with above ground made the camera lenses all steam up.
Alejandro Casaseca (Martos), a comic actor in sitcoms and TV shows, appears in his first “serious” role.
The 2 in the [REC] 2 movie title most likely represents the 2 submerging story lines between the video camera following teenagers Tito, Ori, Mire and footage of the SWAT team who were featured in the first 40 minutes of the film.
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