I loved Joy Ride. It was a very amusing and well balanced thriller that you were pleasantly surprised to admit you enjoyed, and that is really the only reason I gave the sequel a chance. Well, if this would have been given a different title, quite honestly people would have thought immediately while viewing that it was a rip-off of the first. Except for the same killer, nothing resembles the first, which goes back to my summary of how it is a slap in the face. I would have appreciated minor acknowledge to the first in some shape or form, but sadly I did not receive that. I know though how most sequels of this caliber are quite mediocre and disappointing, so I guess that is allowed to be my major disappointment for this one.
Still, with that peeve stated, I rather enjoyed this. It was very entertaining and, in ways, very smart and cunning where you did not think it would be so brilliant, but I am not exactly calling this a masterpiece thought-provoker with those words at all. I also thought it had decent and interesting characters enough to where you were actually amused with the story, though at times a lot of them were very faceless due to the casts' lack of strong acting ability, though I honestly can't state that I was expecting that in the first place. Also, the plot was very acceptable, to say the most. The movie entertains, and it was a satisfying enough sequel to a very great first. Certainly don't be expecting it to live up to Joy Ride if you are going to watch it, though/
