Backdraft 2 (2019) – Review

Where to watch Backdraft 2

2 Stars

Ron Howard’s landmark 1991 film about Chicago firefighters gets a low-rent sequel nearly three decades after the original. This inferior follow-up can’t possibly match the original in terms of technical wizardry and over-all craftsmanship, but that’s’ not to say it’s without its own modest pleasures. Returning cast members Donald Sutherland and William Baldwin add an air of legitimacy to this otherwise non-essential sequel.

The film follows recruit Sean McCaffrey (Joe Anderson), the grown son of Kurt Russell’s character from the first film an investigator with the Chicago F.D who still holds his uncle Brian McCaffrey (Baldwin) responsible for the death of his father. This time the younger McCaffrey is tasked with tracking a series of suspicious blazes by a group of villains using the fires as diversions in order to export a deadly missile out of the country.

Backdraft 2 has the unenviable task of following a near perfect picture in the original. It’s not even remotely fair to compare the two flicks. Based on it’s on-screen merits its a passable experience, but there isn’t really anything to distinguish Backdraft 2 from an episode of a Chicago Fire or 911. Sutherland and Baldwin are always a welcome sight even in a low-budget derivative straight-to-DVD sequel that has arrived at least 25 years too late.

Director: Gonzalo López-Gallego
Stars: Joe Anderson, Daniel Baldwin, Donald Sutherland

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