Backdraft 2 (also known as Backdraft II) is a 2019 American action thriller film directed by Gonzalo López-Gallego and written by Gregory Widen. A sequel to the 1991 film Backdraft, also written by Widen, it stars Joe Anderson, with William Baldwin and Donald Sutherland reprising their roles as Brian McCaffrey and Ronald Bartel from the original film. It was released on a direct-to-video format on May 14, 2019.[1]
Arson investigator Sean McCaffrey, son of the late Lieutenant Stephen "Bull" McCaffrey, works out of Station 17 of the Chicago Fire Department, one of the units in the division run by his uncle, Deputy District Chief of the Chicago Office of Fire Investigation (OFI) Brian McCaffrey. Sean prefers working alone, and is initially rude when Station 17's Captain White tells him he must follow protocol and work with a partner, Maggie Rening.
The new team is assigned a fire which killed five youngsters on Halloween. After they confirm the fire is arson, they later catch an arsonist who tells them that he had turned down a massive fee to set the Halloween fire. Sean talks with Ronald Bartel, a murderous arsonist who has been in prison for decades. Bartel provides insight that includes the involvement of terrorists lead by Albert "Tall Albert" Smith, using fires to distract from the theft of missiles. Albert plants a bomb in Sean's home to murder him. Sean calls Brian and tells him about what happened. Brian drops by and sees if he can defuse it, but dies in the process. A funeral is held for Brian and Sean bids farewell to him just as he bid farewell to his father decades earlier. Ronald expresses condolences to Sean and explains to him where Tall Albert and his henchmen possibly hang out. Sean and Maggie go after Albert and his gang, who are subsequently caught and defeated. And like in 1991, the film ends when a call comes in for another fire.
The film was released on Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital on May 14, 2019.
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 40% of 5 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 2/10.[2] Alex McLevy of The A.V. Club gave a positive review, writing, "This is the kind of brainless but trashily enjoyable film that would suit the bill when you're looking for something to watch hangover on a lazy Sunday afternoon."[3]