Season one of
“From Dusk till Dawn” had the benefit of a pre-established narrative structure
lifted from the screenplay Quentin Tarantino wrote for Robert Rodriguez’s 1996
film. Season two doesn’t have this luxury, and it sacrifices much of the
simplicity in the first season by creating a new direction for the characters
and the plot. Unfortunately, a lot of the fun is also lost along the process,
even more than was shed in the transformation from two-hour film to 10-episode
seasons. Gone are the clever quips from Tarantino’s dialogue and parallelisms
between vampirism and the criminal underworld now have as much subtlety as the
fanged characters in direct sunlight.
The horror is almost entirely removed
from the storyline now that half of the protagonists belong to the vampire
family, and straightforward action gore has been replaced with a series of
ineffectual heist/crime scenes. Whereas the original movie (and subsequently
the first season of the show) cleverly blended a crime/gangster narrative with
a straightforward horror film, this season feels more like “Twilight” dressed
up as “Bonnie and Clyde .” Even the arrival of
Rodriguez regular Danny Trejo as a supernatural assassin is somewhat weighed
down by the minutiae of the fantasy rules and a sudden departure from any
connections to the realism of the human world.
At the close of the first season,
Seth (D.J. Cotrona) and Kate (Madison Davenport) survive the carnage of the
Titty Twister battle, and we join them as small-time crooks in season two. Part
of the problem is Seth’s new reliance on a drug addiction to numb his
disappointment with the outcome of events. Despite being undead, Seth’s brother
is handling the change with more ease than his sibling. Richie (Zane Holtz) and
the vampire queen, Santánico Pandemonium (Eiza González), set out for revenge
against the powerful vampire gang that used her as bait in the Titty Twister.
Kate’s brother also survives the destruction of season one by emerging a vampire,
though he takes a third path in choosing to team up with these very vampires,
making the entire narrative something of a Mexican standoff between three
opposing groups of criminals. While the potential for action may seem increased
by having so many opposing characters, it mostly just increases the number of
scenes they bicker amongst each other. There are some decent scenes of
fighting, though far fewer and more spread out than the destruction of the
first season.
Veering
different directions from the source material is a double-edged sword, removing
a structure that works from the series while simultaneously opening up
opportunities for an original narrative. This would have been even better if
the new direction for the story had been as much fun as the previous one.
Instead, much of the melodrama between the two brothers (and between vampires
and humans), merely resembles a slightly grittier and far less whitewashed
“Vampire Diaries.” So much time is spent on the relationship bickering and the
magical rules and loopholes of the supernatural that there is far less pure
unadulterated mayhem.
The Blu-ray release for season two is
stacked with extras, including plenty of involvement from Rodriguez, who
provides audio commentaries and interviews for making-of featurettes for each
of the 10 season two episodes. This is only the beginning, with featurettes for
a handful of supporting actors, effects and production elements, mythology, and
more. It is a seemingly never-ending assortment of behind-the-scenes footage
and interviews, almost as much as is in Full
Tilt Boogie, the classic documentary film about the making of the original
film.
Entertainment Value:
6/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 5.5/10
Historical
Significance: 3/10
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