Working at a local truck-stop, a woman and a small gang of residents realize that all the vehicles and machines around them are behaving without human operators, and eventually trap them inside when they realize that a deadly chemical spill is responsible and try to get past the homicidal machines.
This one here isn't that bad when it really tries to. The film's best feature is that it's pretty packed with action in here which manages to score some big points for all the big sequences. The big opening sequence where the big rig comes to life and chases them through the junkyard is a really enjoyable start to this one, and from the fun of the several thwarted escape attempts at the diner which includes the great corralling inside the motel to the several close-calls and chases of the group trying to get to their trucks or back inside the diner have a lot going for them. Away from the truck-stop, the early action out on the highways is pure greatness, from the encounter in the RV to the chase through the countryside leading up to the diner makes for some fun, and the scenes of the workers attempting to clean up the accident give this some. Throw in a genuinely creepy moment where two victims try to escape from a collapsing tunnel guarded by trucks which turns into a nice rescue attempt and the stellar sequence where they tackle the escape attempt while getting out of the diner into the wilderness provides plenty of destruction and mayhem that leads into the fast pace with a lot going on to keep it moving. The last bit that works is the cleverly-built beginning that successfully makes for a good mystery and a really creepy tone which are the film's good points even though this one does have a few problems. One of the bigger factors that hold it down is the PG-13 rating which is something big to get over. It really neuters the film a lot, since the big body count is taken out by being run over in the distance or by being blown up in an explosion and there's practically no blood at all due to the fact that the kills won't allow it to happen. All of them done with the action forces that to happen, and by being restricted to the truck- stop for the majority of the film, it doesn't offer opportunities for other details. The fact that it is a retread of the original, with the storyline being taken straight out and set against a few new scenes here and there. That the set-up is still pretty much the same and with a few new differences to put in place in here is something to get over. The last big flaw in here is the family drama that consumes so much of the film, whether it be the father-and-son story or the heroine's story or even one from the people stuck in the truck-stop have a sort of family drama about them, and with so many in here having a similar sort of problem take up so much screen-time is a big waste, since it just makes the film look all the weaker for featuring something that is continually brought up that wasn't fun to experience the first time. Beyond these, though, the film's other flaws are what hold it down the most.
Rated PG-13: Violence and Language.
This one here isn't that bad when it really tries to. The film's best feature is that it's pretty packed with action in here which manages to score some big points for all the big sequences. The big opening sequence where the big rig comes to life and chases them through the junkyard is a really enjoyable start to this one, and from the fun of the several thwarted escape attempts at the diner which includes the great corralling inside the motel to the several close-calls and chases of the group trying to get to their trucks or back inside the diner have a lot going for them. Away from the truck-stop, the early action out on the highways is pure greatness, from the encounter in the RV to the chase through the countryside leading up to the diner makes for some fun, and the scenes of the workers attempting to clean up the accident give this some. Throw in a genuinely creepy moment where two victims try to escape from a collapsing tunnel guarded by trucks which turns into a nice rescue attempt and the stellar sequence where they tackle the escape attempt while getting out of the diner into the wilderness provides plenty of destruction and mayhem that leads into the fast pace with a lot going on to keep it moving. The last bit that works is the cleverly-built beginning that successfully makes for a good mystery and a really creepy tone which are the film's good points even though this one does have a few problems. One of the bigger factors that hold it down is the PG-13 rating which is something big to get over. It really neuters the film a lot, since the big body count is taken out by being run over in the distance or by being blown up in an explosion and there's practically no blood at all due to the fact that the kills won't allow it to happen. All of them done with the action forces that to happen, and by being restricted to the truck- stop for the majority of the film, it doesn't offer opportunities for other details. The fact that it is a retread of the original, with the storyline being taken straight out and set against a few new scenes here and there. That the set-up is still pretty much the same and with a few new differences to put in place in here is something to get over. The last big flaw in here is the family drama that consumes so much of the film, whether it be the father-and-son story or the heroine's story or even one from the people stuck in the truck-stop have a sort of family drama about them, and with so many in here having a similar sort of problem take up so much screen-time is a big waste, since it just makes the film look all the weaker for featuring something that is continually brought up that wasn't fun to experience the first time. Beyond these, though, the film's other flaws are what hold it down the most.
Rated PG-13: Violence and Language.