The Butterfly Effect 2

Last updated
The Butterfly Effect 2
Butterflyeffect2dvd.jpg
Promotional film poster
Directed by John R. Leonetti
Written byMichael D. Weiss
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyBrian Pearson
Edited by Jacqueline Cambas
Music by Michael Suby
Distributed by New Line Cinema
Release date
  • October 10, 2006 (2006-10-10)
Running time
92 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$966,458 [1]

The Butterfly Effect 2 is a 2006 American science fiction psychological thriller film directed by John R. Leonetti and starring Eric Lively, Erica Durance, Dustin Milligan and Gina Holden. The film is largely unrelated to the 2004 film The Butterfly Effect and was released direct-to-video on October 10, 2006. It is followed by The Butterfly Effect 3: Revelations (2009).

Contents

The film grossed $966,458 in box office and $2.9 million in home video sales. [2] [3] The film received generally negative reviews, with reviewers criticizing its formulaic copy of the first film, simply with different characters.

Plot

Nick and his girlfriend, Julie, are celebrating Julie's 24th birthday with their friends Trevor and Amanda. Nick and Julie start to discuss their future when Nick is urgently called into work. He has to go to the meeting because he is up against co-worker Dave Bristol for a promotion. As the four friends drive back to the city, their vehicle collides with a semi-truck. Of the four friends, only Nick survives. Later, when he is looking at a photograph of himself and Julie, everything in the room begins to shudder and shake, while the people in the photograph begin moving.

One year later, while presenting an important sales pitch to investors, Nick suffers a blinding headache and outrageous nosebleed. As a result, he is given a week's suspension. Back home, Nick looks through photographs from Julie's birthday and somehow manages to transport himself back to the moment just before the fatal collision. This time, he knows how to avoid the accident, and he awakens in a new timeline where Julie is living happily with him. However, in this reality, Nick's life is ruined when he is fired for backing up his friend and colleague Trevor.

Later, Nick sees a Christmas photograph of him, his friends and colleagues, and realizes that this was the point at which a crucial deal was made, resulting in Dave's promotion. Nick decides to try to alter this in his favor, so he concentrates on the photo in order to trigger another episode. Sure enough, he finds himself back at the party.

After deliberately spilling a drink on Dave to distract him, he finds the paperwork for the crucial deal. Nick then returns to the present in a new version of reality. In this reality, Nick is the vice-president of the company, but he and Julie have split up and he is living the bachelor lifestyle. Also, Trevor and Nick end up on the wrong side of a shady investor; the company is broken due to failed deals and the investor, infuriated by a lack of results, kills Trevor who borrowed money from him. In the course of trying to escape a similar fate, Nick runs into Julie just as one of the investor's armed henchmen tries to shoot him but shoots her instead. Nick is rendered unconscious before he can go back in time once again. He awakes in the bedroom of the investor's business partner, but he manages to kill him and escape. Nick confesses everything to his mother, who tells him that he cannot "control everything". She says his father also tried to control things (implying in the process that his father had the same ability previous to Nick) but ultimately committed suicide.

Nick transports himself to the scene from the start of the movie, hoping to finally fix everything by breaking up with Julie. He did not anticipate how upset she would be, nor that she would confess to being pregnant and speed away in his car. Fearing a similar accident as the original, Nick speeds after her, but while avoiding an oncoming car, he opts to save Julie rather than himself by driving off the road and over a cliff.

One year later, Julie lives in New York City with her son, Nick Jr., who seems to have the same affliction as his father.

In a series of flickering flashbacks that run during the end credits, an unidentified man (who is presumably Nick's own father) is shown grappling with mental illness – presumably brought on by the progressive brain damage that the time-traveling causes – and eventually committing suicide. In the last of the flickering images, Nick himself is shown recovering in a hospital bed from serious injuries.

Cast

Critical reception

The Butterfly Effect 2 was met with negative reviews. Reviewers claim that the sequel adds nothing to the message of the first movie, covering exactly the same ground with different characters. With a limited temporal scope, the story of this movie isn't as intertwined as the first. Also, the less-impressive special effects and very short filming time combine to give the movie a much less impressive feel than the original. [4] It received a negative reception from Reel Film Reviews, which called it "An abominable, pointless sequel." [5]

Related Research Articles

<i>The Butterfly Effect</i> 2004 American science fiction thriller film

The Butterfly Effect is a 2004 American science fiction thriller film written and directed by Eric Bress and J. Mackye Gruber. It stars Ashton Kutcher, Amy Smart, Eric Stoltz, William Lee Scott, Elden Henson, Logan Lerman, Ethan Suplee, and Melora Walters. The title refers to the butterfly effect.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Erica Durance</span> Canadian actress

Erica Durance is a Canadian actress known for her roles as Lois Lane in the superhero television series Smallville (2004–2011) and as Dr. Alex Reid in the medical drama series Saving Hope (2012–2017). She has also appeared in films such as The Untold (2002), The Butterfly Effect 2 (2006), Final Verdict (2009) and Painkillers (2015).

<i>Nowhere Man</i> (American TV series) American television series

Nowhere Man is an American mystery science fiction thriller television series that aired on UPN on Monday nights from August 28, 1995, to May 20, 1996, starring Bruce Greenwood. The series was created by Lawrence Hertzog. Despite critical acclaim, including TV Guide's label of "This season's coolest hit," the show was cancelled after one season. Reruns later aired in the early 2000s on Family Channel in Canada.

<i>Envy</i> (2004 film) 2004 film by Barry Levinson

Envy is a 2004 American black comedy buddy film directed by Barry Levinson and starring Ben Stiller and Jack Black.

<i>Humongous</i> (1982 film) 1982 Canadian film

Humongous is a 1982 Canadian slasher film directed by Paul Lynch, and starring Janet Julian, John Wildman, and David Wallace. The story centers on a group of young adults who become stranded on a deserted island, where they are stalked and murdered by a monstrous assailant.

<i>Poolhall Junkies</i> 2002 film

Poolhall Junkies is a 2002 comedy-drama thriller film co-written, starring and directed by Mars Callahan. It is the story of a pool hustler who is opposed by his former mentor, with a new prodigy, in a climactic big-stakes nine-ball match.

<i>Love Dont Cost a Thing</i> (film) 2003 American film

Love Don't Cost a Thing is a 2003 American teen comedy film written and directed by Troy Beyer and starring Nick Cannon and Christina Milian. It also stars Steve Harvey, Kenan Thompson, and Kal Penn. The film is a remake of the 1987 film Can't Buy Me Love and takes on its title from the Jennifer Lopez song of the same name. The remake was not produced by Disney.

<i>Where Danger Lives</i> 1950 film by John Farrow

Where Danger Lives is a 1950 American film noir thriller directed by John Farrow and starring Robert Mitchum, Faith Domergue and Claude Rains.

<i>Hellraiser: Hellseeker</i> 2002 horror film

Hellraiser: Hellseeker is a 2002 supernatural horror film directed by Rick Bota and written by Carl V. Dupré and Tim Day. The sixth film in the Hellraiser series, it features the return of Kirsty Cotton, the heroine from Hellraiser and its sequel. The film stars Dean Winters, Ashley Laurence, and Doug Bradley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dustin Milligan</span> Canadian actor (born 1985)

Dustin Wallace Milligan is a Canadian actor, known for his role as Ethan Ward on the teen drama television series 90210 from 2008 until 2009, Tom Cummings in the Canadian spy thriller television series X Company from 2015 until 2016, Ted Mullens on the Canadian television comedy series Schitt's Creek from 2015 until 2020, and Josh Carter on American television comedy series Rutherford Falls from 2021 until 2022. He has also appeared in a number of films.

<i>What a Whopper</i> 1961 British film by Gilbert Gunn

What a Whopper is a 1961 British comedy film directed by Gilbert Gunn and starring Adam Faith, Sid James and Carole Lesley. It was written by Terry Nation from an original script by Jeremy Lloyd.

<i>The Butterfly Effect 3: Revelations</i> 2009 American film

The Butterfly Effect 3: Revelations is a 2009 American science fiction horror thriller film directed by Seth Grossman. It is the third installment in The Butterfly Effect franchise. The film is set in Detroit, Michigan with most of the filming done there.

<i>Amongst Friends</i> 1993 American film

Amongst Friends is a 1993 film written and directed by Rob Weiss and starring Patrick McGaw, Joseph Lindsey, Steve Parlavecchio, and Mira Sorvino.

<i>Gen¹³</i> (film) 1998 American film

Gen13 is a 1998 American animated superhero film based on the Gen13 comic book series published by WildStorm Productions which is a part of DC Comics. The film, released in 2000, was directed by Kevin Altieri and produced by WildStorm. The film was distributed by Buena Vista Pictures and first screened for the general public at the Wizard World Chicago convention July 17, 1998.

<i>The Change-Up</i> 2011 film by David Dobkin

The Change-Up is a 2011 American fantasy romantic comedy produced and directed by David Dobkin, and written by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore. The film stars Ryan Reynolds and Jason Bateman as Mitch Planko and Dave Lockwood, two best friends living in Atlanta who “switch bodies” after urinating into the fountain to wish they had each other's lives. The film was released on August 5, 2011, in North America by Universal Pictures. It received negative reviews from critics.

<i>Panic Button</i> (2011 film) 2011 British film

Panic Button is a British independent horror-thriller film released in 2011. The film is intended as a cautionary tale on the dangers of online social networking.

<i>Shark Night</i> 2011 American film

Shark Night is a 2011 American horror film directed by David R. Ellis and written by Will Hayes and Jesse Studenberg. It stars Sara Paxton, Chris Carmack, Katharine McPhee, Alyssa Diaz, Dustin Milligan, and Joel David Moore. The film, which was negatively received by critics and grossed $40 million worldwide, was released in RealD 3D and Digital 3D. This was Ellis's final film before his death.

Striking Poses is a 1999 American direct-to-video thriller film directed by Gail Harvey and starring Shannen Doherty as a paparazzo photographer who becomes a photography victim herself, of a dangerous stalker. It is rated R for violence and profanity.

<i>A Haunted House 2</i> 2014 film directed by Michael Tiddes

A Haunted House 2 is a 2014 American satirical horror comedy film directed by Michael Tiddes and starring Marlon Wayans, Jaime Pressly, Essence Atkins, Gabriel Iglesias, Missi Pyle, Ashley Rickards, Affion Crockett, Steele Stebbins, Rick Overton, Hayes MacArthur, Dave Sheridan and Cedric the Entertainer. The film is the sequel to the 2013 film A Haunted House and the final installment in the duology. Produced by IM Global Octane and distributed by Open Road Films, the film was released on March 28, 2014. Like its predecessor, the film received negative reviews from critics, and earned over $25 million at the box office.

<i>Unfinished Business</i> (2015 film) 2015 American comedy film by Ken Scott

Unfinished Business is a 2015 American comedy film directed by Ken Scott and written by Steven Conrad. The film stars Vince Vaughn, Tom Wilkinson, Dave Franco, Sienna Miller, Nick Frost, and James Marsden. It was released on March 6, 2015. The film was panned by critics and was a box office bomb, only grossing $14.4 million on a budget of $35 million.

References

  1. "The Butterfly Effect 2". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2023-03-16.
  2. "The Butterfly Effect 2". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2023-03-16.
  3. "The Butterfly Effect 2 (2006) - Financial Information". The Numbers. Retrieved 2023-03-16.
  4. "The Butterfly Effect 2". RottenTomatoes.com .
  5. Nusair, David. "The Butterfly Effect 2". Reel Film Reviews. Retrieved May 28, 2017.