Grove of Film Threat stated that "[he] wasn't much scared by anything in Final Destination 2 which is silly and illogical". Jeff Vice of Deseret News censured to "not even get into the awful script or the numbingly awful performances", while Bruce Fretts of Entertainment Weekly stated "everything else about the film is also deadly". Some critics praised the film's comedic theme. A. O. Scott of The New York Times imparted "it's not as cheekily knowing as the Scream movies or as trashily Grand Guignol as the Evil Dead franchise, but like those pictures it recognizes the close relationship between fright and laughter, and dispenses both with a free, unpretentious hand". C. W. Nevius of San Francisco Chronicle conveyed its "funnier than the original". Maitland McDonagh of TV Guide pronounced "if this is your idea of fun, step right up". William Arnold of Seattle Post-Intelligencer found it as "a series of Grand Guignol skits played for mean-spirited laughs". Marc Savlov of Austin Chronicle admired how "it is surprisingly good fun for the current crop of horror films, reasonably well-plotted and full of jaw-dropping, white-knuckle scares. That said, it's most definitely not for the squeamish nor the easily offended." Nev Pierce of BBC saw that "it's simple, but effective", whereas Sheila Norman-Culp of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution proclaimed that "what Final Destination did for the fear of flying, Final Destination 2 does for the fear of driving". Amongst the cast ensemble, Carson, Cherry, Cook, Landes, Larter, and Todd were prominent amidst the analysis for their performances as Eugene, Rory, Kimberly, Thomas, Clear, and Bludworth respectively. Koehler of Variety said that "Carson as skeptical Eugene energizes what had been a rote conception on the page"; "Cherry offered some dry comic balance"; Larter was "casted little light"; Todd was squandered by his "single, distinctly flat scene"; and "the generally awful thesping, led by Cook, whose blurry grasp of emotions betrays Ellis' apparent disinterest in his actors". Grove of Film Threat panned Cook, uttering that "she's no great actress, but she's a real looker" and teased that "since when did a horror movie suffer from having two dumb blondes as leads", the other actress being Larter, who "spends the whole movie looking miserable with her frigid acting". Dustin Putman of TheMovieBoy.com commented how "Cook is serviceable as the premonition-fueled Kimberly, but doesn't evoke enough emotion in the scenes following the brutal deaths of her close