I love the Halloween franchise, and was delighted when the newest entry came out in October of last year. I subscribed to Peacock just to watch it on opening night. It was much anticipated after the success of Halloween 2018, which I enjoyed quite a bit. To bury the lead, it was a step backward.
Positives…I guess
1). It takes place the same night as Halloween 2018:
The original sequel, Halloween II did this as well, and it’s an awesome idea. There’s something about it, maybe because it isn’t done that often, but it’s always cool when a sequel literally picks right up where the first movie leaves off. It’s just a good narrative trick.
2). They brought some of the original cast back:
It was cool that they did it, though I’d argue their involvement in the movie was not good.
3). Myers escaping the fire:
They spoiled it in the trailer, which softened the awesomeness, but it was still a fun scene. On the one hand, we know he escapes the fire, so it’s understandable they’d show that in the trailer since it isn’t really a spoiler. However, it ended up being the best scene in the movie, so, I would’ve preferred to watch that within the actual movie.
4). The flashback 70’s scenes looked great:
I did not like their addition to the story, but they did look fantastic, almost like deleted scenes from ’78.
5). Big John and Little John:
This was actually the only part of the movie that I liked, besides Michael escaping the fire. The two of them were very funny, highly relevant since they bought the old Myers’ house, and they were savagely murdered. The scene(s) had everything.
6). The implied kills:
Even though we’re all watching to see some kills, it’s nice every now and then for them to show the aftermath. It’s good for Michael’s mystique without overdoing it on the kill scenes. For example, the kid with the mask in the park. All of the characters from the original show up and talk to the wise-ass kids who messed with Big and Little John. Two of the kids are on the swings still being wise-asses. Then Michael Myers pops out of the woods holding the third kid’s mask, so we know what happened.
Negatives
1). There was no point to the 70’s scenes:
I didn’t think they added anything to the story. The movie from 2018 was awesome because it was about the aftermath of the events in the original, but was on its own timeline, referencing 1978 without literally going back there or adding to it. This movie adds in all this stuff from the past that wasn’t shown to us at the time in order to try and add meaning to Will Patton’s character as it relates to Michael Myers and what happened that night. We didn’t need this. 2018 just referenced that he was there that night, and we saw his fear/trauma manifest when he tried to kill Michael, something a cop wouldn’t normally do. That told us all we needed to know.
2). The romance between Laurie and Will Patton:
This felt forced, and it just felt like something to do with Laurie, since she’s sidelined for much of the movie recovering from the injuries she sustained in 2018. Fine. But it’s another reference to something from ’78 that we didn’t see in any of the movies. It just feels contrived. And also, it’s not necessary, this movie doesn’t need romantic subplots. It also felt like an opportunity just to reference the name “Ben Tramer” from the original movie.
3). The Klan rally in the hospital took up too much time:
I don’t disagree with the point that people who are scared can get rallied to a cause and then get carried away, or that people don’t stop to ask questions, or that everything is a mob mentality, us vs them. However, I don’t think this B story added to the movie or presented an interesting way of looking at anything. It also took up a lot of time.
4). The self-absorption, “it’s not about you, Laurie” message is okay, but it doesn’t really pay off:
Again, I don’t totally disagree with the message, and it could’ve been an interesting idea to explore further. But, it felt rushed, often competing with the rally in the hospital. Given that Laurie and Michael are the subjects of the movie, this theme should’ve gotten more screen time. Or they should’ve just removed it because they opened a door they couldn’t close in this movie.
5). No one finishes Michael off?:
I love Michael Myers, and he is obviously necessary for any future movies. We know he can take a beating, to the extent where he flirts with the supernatural. But he gets incapacitated a few times and no one seals the deal. I get that in real life, we need him to still be alive, but I just don’t think that’s plausible within this story.
I hate to be “that guy”, but if I’m living in fear of one guy (and apparently the whole town is), and he’s lying in front of me incapacitated, and I have a weapon – I’m shooting/stabbing/hitting him until his head is an amorphous mess. I know he’s been shot and beaten and stabbed in the back of the neck, but they don’t know he’s dead. Scorch the earth.
6). Karen dying:
I’m fine with her dying. I’m not attached to the character or anything, but it just seems insane that she would go up into his room at the end. I know she’s a psychologist, and maybe has some type of curiosity, but what is she expecting to find? The house was sold and inhabited by another family, it’s not like Michael Myers had a diary up there explaining his mental state. It just seems unrealistic, other than for the effect of the twist of her dying at the end. Again, it seems forced.
Overall, I was just highly disappointed with this movie, both when I saw it in October and when I rewatched it recently. The 2018 movie was so awesome, and I was so excited for the direction of the new movie, but it wasn’t to be. There were too many open threads, and a lot of screen time for forced additions that weren’t contributing positively to the story. Everything that I liked about this movie, also came with a drawback that made me dislike the movie.
Unfortunately, this makes me wonder about whether the next one will be good, or what it could be about. I know it’s supposed to take place a few years later, I just have no idea what they’ll do. This unknown would normally be exciting, but they botched this one so badly I have to feel nervous about it instead. Hopefully it’ll be like the Daniel Craig Bond movies where the first is great, the second is bad, and then the third is very good. We shall see.
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