The second viewing does this movie a lot of favors. Much of the hate comes from diminished expectations, coming off two good movies in the series, and famously not featuring much of Jason "taking" Manhattan. If you can ignore this, and many glaring errors - geographic, spatial, logical - this is fun trash entertainment, and the last slice and dice Jason formula movie until the reboot. The movie is basically shot well, keeps up pace most of the time, features an attractive cast, and - for the modern viewer - lots of fun nuggets of late 80s culture. The filmic portrayal of pre-Giuliani New York always fascinates. Where the film goes wrong are those areas that could have made it more entertaining for what it was: a slasher on a boat. Many of the kills underwhelm. Some go on for so long, we expect more. Some don't quite seem logical: Jason is portrayed as superhuman, yet struggles to strangle or stab pretty easy victims. For a lumbering zombie, he is able to sneak up on victims with no sound, smell, or bodily residue giving him away. This is made plainer by the kills that do work, like the character who boxes Jason, gives up and says "take your best shot." Or the rocker guitar kill. These are like a B on a bad report card, showing it could be better if they tried. When Jason does get to Manhattan, he ignores a plethora of victims to go after the main characters, who don't even have a direct connection to Camp Crystal Lake. His "death," via some whacked out perception of toxic New York, is made more ridiculous by the fact that later sequels deviate to the point where this could be considered his final death scene in the Camp Crystal Lake Paramount octet. It's still better than parts 5 or 9, and still an enjoyable diversion.
