As bad as the first one
595641
This is my review of the first Lexy Baker book & it applies to this one also:

I love cozy mysteries & this one sounded interesting so I purchased it for my Paperwhite. Unfortunately, I was very disappointed. It started out well, but I was unpleasantly surprised to encounter a glaring spelling error (really a misused word) early in the book. I continued to find dozens of misspelled words & grammatical errors throughout the book. Maybe I'm a "grammar Nazi" but it made it impossible to concentrate on the story. Even disregarding the grammar & spelling errors, the book itself wasn't all that good. Too short & very little character development. The plot was thin also & the ending almost contrived. I finished the book & even read the next two in the series, but only because I had already purchased them. The next two were just as bad. Very, very disappointed. Unless Miss Dobbs has polished her grammar & writing skills, I won't be reading any more of her books & I definitely will not recommend them.
4115234
Not as good as the first one. Without spoiling anything I'll just say that it's a bit more "Hollywood," that it has less good of gameplay, and that they changed some weapons for the worse. The supernatural stuff is a bit too overt. What I mean by that is the original kind of has you hallucinate, whereas this one kind of shows you too much with too much context. Not shady memories and someone else's flashbacks but scenes that seem to try too hard. The beginning is solid though. The end falls apart like the last one did, more or less.
1072908
This movie was garbage! Do not watch it, if you enjoyed the first then don't bother watching this. it sucked.
264827
Lost a lot of steam and originality from the first book.

Really turned into a typical "boy gets power, boy saves the world" story. Nothing unique like the first book. No surprises. Ancel's just a typical clueless dope. Really missed Ryne's dark and gritty side. Charra and Ancel are utterly worthless and boring compared to Ryne and Sakari.

Really hope the third book surprises me.
2715309
Another unnecessary remake. The power of the first film is non-existent in this remake. I couldn't connect with the characters whatsoever, and the script was as shallow as a puddle. Skip this one and see the original if you haven't already.
4556313
This sequel to the 2006 horror remake the hills have eyes falls flat and sadly it never gets up. Everything that made the first film triumphant is completely absent here. The movie begins with a group of National Guard rookies arriving in the same desert of the first film. Only this time they know there is a threat. Like the first movie they get killed one by one. Sure enough there is more gore and guts..... So what exactly is wrong with this movie? Well for starters there are no scares, there are no surprises. The whole movie feels formulaic. Whereas the first one kept you on the edge of your seat; here everything is pretty much predictable. And the funny thing is that you can tell the actors worked hard... but still the movie feels pretty mediocre. Another bad thing about this one is the rape scene, unlike the first movie were the rape scene never got to the real thing, here it's pretty explicit and way to long, that almost made me turn the movie off. So you're advised that this one has much more violence, less scares, more gore, and a rape scene. I wouldn't recommend buying this one unless you're an avid fan of the first one, other than that just rent it.

MY PERSONAL RATING: 2 OUT OF 5
2145886
not better than the first movie, this one even copied lines from the first movie, lack of creativity in my opinion
1093962
This movie was far worse than the first movie which I thought was pretty good - not great - but, pretty good.  In this version, they decided to go more comic book style (think old Batman series "boom, bam, pow" scenes) action where some sequences blacked out when the real action was supposed to be taking place and you got this animated effect on live characters. Just a whole bunch of really stupid scenes poorly shot and edited.  Overall, the acting was poor, the writing was poor, and the cinematic direction was crappy. "WARNING" spoiler:  There is a part of the movie when a barely audible/understandable Elba tells Nick Cage that getting rid of the rider is going to be painful and then locks Nick in this cave... where like nothing happens and then he's cured! WTF? Seriously... NOTHING happens except more blackout.  Did he even scream? I don't even remember.  Please pass on this one. Seriously not worth the money.
941528
How could this series have gotten *worse* after the first book? I was engaged enough with the first one to pick up the second one but eugh, after reading it I'd like those hours of my life back, please. This is just so grossly typical of woman "ally" writing M/M smut that I could barely finish the thing. Filled with offensive and lazy stereotypes and writing, this is absolutely a skip.
2135017
WORSE THAN THE FIRST.
(Rhyme NOT intended, bland flame not intended.)
Anyways, first off, yes Neo and Trinity DID pick up in their relationship, but they jumped too far at the beginning for me to bear. The rest of the time I was sleeping.
I understood it MUCH better than the first one, but the voicing is bad (think of when Morpheus says the word "Machines" during that speech, and you'll see what I mean.) As well as the fighting is really fake.
If this movie was supposed to be better, then I should have just said the first one was trash. the Agent Smith thing... wow, that was a bit.... much.
Also, how can ONE guy suddenly pull a metal pole off the ground (Then again, in the Matrix anything is possible. Ha ha ha...) and SUDDENLY show immense skill with a bo staff and somehow KO a good percentage of this army of Agent Smiths?
Among the better things was the philosophy. I could take it. The talking was okay, in some ways, but the fighting was beyond unrealistic. It is like watching a rubber band fly off soem random gradeshcool kid's finger and fly into your face, I mean, really. You see, the fight scene right after we learned who the Keymaker was looked really rubberband-ish.
Other parts were just WAAAAAY too long, as well as the lack of emphasis on the plot and other preferences that would've been interesting, i.e., The Machines.
In a war, both sides should have GOOD, substantuated(sp?) reasons to fight. Not just something like, "Oh, hey, let's go attack the humans and enslave them since we're machines. Har, har, har."
The only part I thought really rocked was the freeway scene. I mean, really, that was the only super-great part that is still fresh in my head. Wow, I cna ahrdly remember Matrix I though, how come I remember this...?
Oh, yeah, wait, if the rest of the parts weren't as good, one scene that was good (according to your peferences.) sticks out.
Otherwise, if there's just action and no plot, the movie/idea is easily passed over. Too much talking and no movement can also ruin a story/movie.
It was a good movie, but I can attest that the word movie shouldn't have been used as some SCENES only seemed truly memorable. (And for you sickos that like to see the stuff waaaay too early in the movie, the xxx scene.)
  ~Kokeshi088~
P.S. Personally, I also liked that sword fight, sheesh, a lotta things are better with swords, in this case a *little* bit better.
P.P.S. Also, we can now prove that the character "Neo" (Keanu Reeves) does NOT have scoliosis, as proven in a certain scene that was a but... rushed. At least I think it was rushed. (They must do this stuff only to please people, right? It's almost like doing something silly and out of place just to win a bet, you know?)
2217335
Watched the first one and liked it but this one is such a disappointment.  So boring, I had to take a few breaks in order to finish it.  Didn't like the way they did the ending.
4585187
Skip this and rewatch hangover 1. This movie had no quotability (highly important to comedies!) and really just seemed to reuse crap from the first movie but nowhere near as well.
4107937
A terrible plot and stilted comedy made any action scenes dull at best in this sequel to Red.  Anyone who enjoyed the first movie, then leave your good memory intact  and pass on this one. I wish I had decided to clean out my closets. And I hate cleaning out my closets.
2719294
Unneeded graphic violence and a perverted twist from the first movie.  Not funny like the first one. I would not watch again.
2263411
This game can't hold a candle to the original dead to rights. DtR1 had a  story.  This one has none.  Dtr1 had crazy and imaginative boss fights.  This one has none.  The bosses here are simply dudes with a very long life bar.  The original had interesting and varied settings.  Forget about it now.  In Dtr1, Jack Slate is a likeable character.  In this one, you feel like a psycho.  Even the dog worked better in the first game.  In this one, you're never sure if he will obey even when his meter is full.  The guys who made dtr1 had a lot of imagination.  The new game is completely deprived of any original idea, setting, everything.

As for human shields, in the new game, the game decides for you when to get rid of the hostage, if you're not quick enough to dispatch him.  Lame.

Don't buy at all costs.  A rental will definitely do for anyone.  The only good thing I can say about this game is that the bullet time is improved.
3341695
It's better than part one, but that's not saying much as the first novel was beyond awful. Pools of darkness starts off just as bad as book one was, but picks up slightly to a level of mediocrity that's acceptable as long as you read in "auto pilot' mode. Unfortunately, it falls flat on its face again toward the end.

The characters are more interesting than in book one, but they're still as flat as cardboard. The story is poor as well and there are zero plot twists. If you'd like a glimpse of how badly this book is written, try to wrap your head around "prose" like this: "Few things scared Shal. After all the adventures and monsters she and Tarl had faced together, they both had nerves of steel that matched their tall, athletic bodies." If that isn't absolutely cheesy and horrible, then I don't know what is.
495735
I enjoyed the first one.  The second one was ok, but this one is just awful.  It reads like a slightly edited outline.  Or a book report by a sophomore in high school (who would probably have gotten a C on it).  There is a ton of exposition, followed by a little dialog.  "Show don't tell" is violated constantly.

Here is an example (and this is just from a random page -- it doesn't take long to find examples)

"There were individuals who dal Lupard would rather not have to reacquaint himself with, but he was rapidly running out of avenues to investigate.  His old networks of informants were gone, and everyone at the Grey Tower was at best obstructive.  There was one man who might be of use, however.  He had fallen even farther than dal Lupard, and dangling the prospect of some form of restitution before him might be all it took to secure his help.  Tracking down his old comrade-in-conspiracy was harder than he expected." ... it goes on.

The whole book reads like a plot summary.  At 238 pages, I guess there isn't enough space for silly things like character development, modeling real human behavior and motivations, non-linear plotting, or even dialog.

Dont waste your money.