Couldn't hate on this one. Does it drop most of it's painstakingly set up characters at the end? Yes. Does it have an incredibly silly looking Myers? Yes it does. But is it competent? More so then most of the last Halloween films.
This is the first time in the series where Jamie Lee Curtis was brought back and I liked her a lot in this. She plays a tortured, PTSD prone, head mistress of a secluded private school. She hasn't moved on after 20 years of being free from Michael. She sees him everywhere and is constantly paranoid. That's the best stuff in this. I like that idea much more then the 2018 version of her.
Somehow it rings more honest to me. She also has a child now, who is an unfortunately bad Josh Hartnett. Jamie gives a great performance and totally carries this film. Like I said, it's competent but that's about it. Without her it would be an intolerably slow, fake out heavy slasher movie.
Nothing really stands out. It's sole goal seems to be simply getting to the end with as little hiccups as possible. The story is played incredibly safe, likeable characters are kept alive, and there is little to the story outside of Michael coming back to kill Laurie Strode...again. The film is retreading the same terrain that Halloween did.
The difference is the original is good. False scares do not establish an intoxicating atmosphere the way subtlety does in the original. That one takes it's time establishing the story, the characters, and the atmosphere. This one I think does a great job setting up compelling characters and then does nothing with them.
Lauries son wants to distance himself from his "crazy" mom. So his arch should be learning to trust her judgment, but he just drives out of the film before the 3rd act. I was satisfied with Lauries arch overall but she's the only one done this favor. Everyone else are tools to be used by the script.
While the film isn't bad, it isn't good either. It struggles to build to a satisfactory conclusion as it clocks in under 90 minutes. Giving the filmmakers very little wiggle room for character dynamics. The story may be a retread, but at least Jamie Lee Curtis is fully committed to it once again. Her and her character are the best parts of this film and it isn't close.
This is the first time in the series where Jamie Lee Curtis was brought back and I liked her a lot in this. She plays a tortured, PTSD prone, head mistress of a secluded private school. She hasn't moved on after 20 years of being free from Michael. She sees him everywhere and is constantly paranoid. That's the best stuff in this. I like that idea much more then the 2018 version of her.
Somehow it rings more honest to me. She also has a child now, who is an unfortunately bad Josh Hartnett. Jamie gives a great performance and totally carries this film. Like I said, it's competent but that's about it. Without her it would be an intolerably slow, fake out heavy slasher movie.
Nothing really stands out. It's sole goal seems to be simply getting to the end with as little hiccups as possible. The story is played incredibly safe, likeable characters are kept alive, and there is little to the story outside of Michael coming back to kill Laurie Strode...again. The film is retreading the same terrain that Halloween did.
The difference is the original is good. False scares do not establish an intoxicating atmosphere the way subtlety does in the original. That one takes it's time establishing the story, the characters, and the atmosphere. This one I think does a great job setting up compelling characters and then does nothing with them.
Lauries son wants to distance himself from his "crazy" mom. So his arch should be learning to trust her judgment, but he just drives out of the film before the 3rd act. I was satisfied with Lauries arch overall but she's the only one done this favor. Everyone else are tools to be used by the script.
While the film isn't bad, it isn't good either. It struggles to build to a satisfactory conclusion as it clocks in under 90 minutes. Giving the filmmakers very little wiggle room for character dynamics. The story may be a retread, but at least Jamie Lee Curtis is fully committed to it once again. Her and her character are the best parts of this film and it isn't close.