**The mysteries just keep unraveling**
Just been to the cinema to watch Escape Room 2 the tournament of champions. Like the name suggests this is putting six people together like the orginal movie into different Escape Rooms, but this time it is people known as the champions basically people who have beat the game before, but obviously Zoey and Ben are the ones from the previous Escape Room movie and the only ones that where both of them made it out alive due to Zoey pretending to be dead when gassed in the hospital in the previous film. Then fighting to save Ben as well so both of them made it out unlike the others where there is only one winner per Escape Room. In Escape Room 2 these champions now face it head to head as they are tricked into participating in this Escape Room like last time, but with interesting twists and turns along the way. The Escape Rooms got even more creative with them becoming more complex, however I did feel like they kind of rushed over them unlike the first movie. Obviously this maybe intentional by the writers as it sets up Zoey and Ben's next chapter as Minos controls the game and only makes you think that you have some kind of control, which overall makes for an interesting watch and nothing is ever what it seems. Hoping for a third movie to tie it all off, which I hope the writers have taken this into account. I highly recommend this film a very fast paced continuation from the last movie with amazing set design incorporated into the VFX. The plot twists just keep on coming well done to Taylor Russell and Logan Miller for your amazing performances as well as the rest of the cast and crew on making this movie so mind bogglingly entertaining as well as leaving us on the edge of our seats wondering what happens next. Also one last thing is I have never seen a film do a previously before it was like watching a TV show, but I appreciated the recap at the start preparing us for the mysteries that is about to unravel. I definitely think movie movie sequels should do this as people can easily forget key details. :astonished::grinning:

Note: the home version is incredibly different to the theatrical release. Because of this intentional deception by the studio, to split audiences and confuse us, this is the first movie I'm rating a 1 on this website. I wish I could rate it 0.

Not as "dumb but fun" as the original. The weird tertiary subplot with the family dynamic is really ham-fisted and unnecessary. Some of the logic here is far too preposterous and contrived, even for a wacky horror/sci-fi movie like this. For example, at the end where [spoiler]the dad is locked in the daughter's room, why doesn't he just use the code that he himself implemented to escape... did I miss a part where the daughter was faking her imprisonment the whole time or something? And if the friend survived the quicksand, what about the priest guy who fell through the sand too[/spoiler]?

The movie often doesn't trust the audience, flashing back to scenes that literally happened 5 minutes ago, as if we're too dumb to remember and even then these revelations don't pay off, like [spoiler]what's the point in the character who can't feel pain, she doesn't do anything with this "superpower" to help anyone and just dies randomly[/spoiler]. The story here is not well thought out or plotted at all. These "contestants" die for little to no reason and we don't even get to see their fears realised, which was a big part of their character backstory and dialogue during their introduction.

The whole plane simulation in the first act never came to fruition and should have been cut... what, was it meant to "subvert expectations" because they took a car and a train instead or some bullshit? Then show us that they avoided the plane crashing, 'Final Destination' style or don't bother including it at all. (Edit: I just found out the theatrical version is completely different to the version I watched at home, which includes a different ending where [spoiler]they're trapped in this plane sim, Amanda from the original movie is involved with the Minos corporation thing, and there's a subplot with Zoey's therapist that foreshadows the events of this movie[/spoiler]... why was all of this cut for the home release? I've never been gaslighted so bad, I'm so fucking mad lmao).

This movie is filled with Chekhov's gun moments and doesn't follow up on ANY of them. Not to mention half of the puzzles are solved in the characters' heads without including the audience (they just yell the answers to each other). It is incredibly frustrating and unsatisfying. Then the movie suddenly wraps up and ends with an allusion to a sequel. Please don't.

"There has to be a connection!"

Not sure why I enjoy this so much. I think it's the modern equivalent of Saw with better characters and a more interesting plot.

Zoe and Ben return in the sequel to Escape Room. Zoe is too scared to fly after her mother's death in a plane crash and so she and Ben decide to drive to New York following the revelation at the end if the first movie, showing the Minos logo is a really a set of coordinates.

I really liked the puzzles, I liked the tension, the interwoven clues in the rooms were so well crafted and create something complex yet not so hard that the audience can't solve it (considering Zoe is a physics student or something, right?). The story progresses much in the same way as the previous film yet the threats are much more dangerous.

I liked the mix of characters, it's more thrilling to have a good span of backgrounds and skills. I did feel, however, that there wasn't enough time devoted to the other main characters as there were to Ben and Zoe. The movie shows their bond of friendship and the characters' growth through their circumstances. It even reinforces the traits we saw in the last film. Zoe is selfless. She always tries to save someone else and whenever they solve a puzzle she always let's the others go through first.

Ben has picked up these traits from Zoe and he works together with her to supplement her skills. They know each other so well that Ben can tell immediately when something isn't right.

Really just an amazing and believable friendship through trauma (yikes).

If I have to criticise something, it's that the puzzles do unravel much in the same way with a couple of setbacks, lots of short time deadlines and yelling. I also felt like the priest character was definitely the least developed and one-note type of character.


[Spoiler]Given a part of the film reveals that off screen deaths are not deaths and Ben sinks into the sand as the priest does, they really dropped the ball on Nate.[/spoiler]

I don't even care if this franchise outlived itself, I really enjoyed this one.