“Blu-ray or Bust”
THE CONJURING 2 (R, 2016, 134 minutes, NEW LINE CINEMA)
You have to admire someone that wants to scare the Sweet
Baby de Hey-Zeus outta you. Really; all
those people walking around amusement parks this time of year, dressed up to
look like zombies, vampires, and mother-in-laws. They all have my admiration.
With 2013’s THE CONJURING, we were introduced to Ed and
Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga), two honest-to-goodness
real-life paranormal investigators. If
something spooky happened anywhere, they were there to save the day—or debunk
the hoaxes. “Spooky s#@t, be gone!”
they would say, and boom—no more spooks.
Okay, not really like that, but a real-life twist on the genre was an
effective centerpiece.
Three years later, director James Wan (THE CONJURING,
INSIDIOUS and INSIDIOUS: CHAPTER II) wants to introduce you to the Hodgson
family. Unlike the Perron family of the
first film, the Hodgson’s consist of a single mom raising four kids; the stakes
seem to be more dramatic. Indeed, the
family dynamic on display is well played by everyone involved. The heaviest performance falls upon the
more-than-capable shoulders of young Madison Wolfe (THE CAMPAIGN, “True
Detective”); you have absolutely no problem believing this ordinary girl is
occasionally possessed, and trying her best to just stay normal.
Unfortunately, Wan begins to repeat himself and his formula
with this sequel. What was original and
scary in the first film comes off as an attempt to one-up himself. Yes, “The Crooked Man” is a nice touch, but
every Wan film seems to have a hook, a gimmick that you expect the worst
from. In CONJURING, it was the
clapping. Here, it’s the zoetrope, and
from the first sight of it you know it’s going to go badly. ‘No surprises’ is my point.
This time around, Wan is without cinematographer John R.
Leonetti (both INSIDIOUS films, PIRANHA 3D), who so masterfully and elegantly
captured the country landscape and set the tone of the first film. Don Burgess
is Wan’s new cinematographer, and while he does a wonderful job of bringing the
story to light, there is a different feel to this installment. Whereas the first film wanted you to use
your brain, the feel of this one is simply to use your eyes. Not necessarily a bad thing—if you are
watching an action film. (Or Sumo
wrestling midget porn.) But here, the
initial separation between the two slowly converging storylines becomes
distracting. Visually, there isn’t much
of a difference between the two, and there should be. You can’t leave it all up to lighting…
The Special Features are quite informative; you get a look
into the lives of the all-too-real Hodgson family and the horror they
experienced back in 1977. As the film
is based on a true story, the insights provided into these people’s lives is a
fantastic complement to the film itself.
By including so much in the Features, Wan shows you that, like these
people, he’s got nothing to hide. The
real-life story behind it all takes little Hollywood embellishment to make it
scary. You also get a detailed
behind-the-scenes look at the production (which is done rather well) and a
stupid “this set is haunted” bit that falls way flat (partly because it is done
rather poorly) (but mostly because it is stupid).
Sticking to the same formula for a sequel can either be hit
or miss. While much of this film works,
and there are several scenes that were executed very well, you wonder how the
cast and crew managed to get through it all without saying “déjà vu” several
times. Then again, they are probably
busy saying that right this very second on the set of INSIDIOUS 4…
Film Grade: B (originally I had it at a “C”, but Madison
Wolfe is really that good)
Special Features: B
Blu-ray Necessary: Recommended
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