The second installment into the Lord of The Rings series introduces a multitude of other important characters, some of which save day, while some plot to deceive the heroes. Diving into the movie, I won't explain the entire movie or even give a crash course of the major events. As I've been taking this class, when I watch movies or short-films, I find myself pointing out film techniques, even when my family is watching with me and the room is dead silent. I just exclaim, "That's amazing natural lighting!" and then I'm met with complete confusion. However, when I watched this film over again passively through the course of the last few weeks given a more busy schedule, I made it a personal goal of mine to note excellent film techniques such as cuts, lighting, dialogue, continuity, etc. and this movie exceeded my initial expectations given this movie was released in 2002. First, let me dive into the dialogue of this movie, the bottom line being, it felt so immersive and real. While I had some strife with this movie, I cannot deny how well scenes flow and even watching it for the first time before film class, I noticed how meaningful every scene was. Sure there was some comedic relief, and I believe that's absolutely necessary, but every sequence had meaning and either possessed character development or advanced the plot in a well-paced manor. Further, I felt in the Fellowship Of The Ring, the movie was very slow paced, and while all the jokes about how these movies are just walking for upwards of two hours are partially true, I found The Two Towers to be more enthralling as Frodo and the group encountered more conflicts. Compared to the majority of other movies, usually the characters just escape the bad guys and continue on their journey. However, in The Lord of The Rings, I always appreciated how the majority of the conflicts the group encounters diverge into a whole other story full of intriguing characters and detailed explanations of their backgrounds. Take the Nazgûl for example, they rarely show up to fight our protagonists, however, when their name is spoken in conversation you understand how serious and infamous the Ringwraiths are even though they've never truly spoken, just hissed really. Point being, dialogue in scenes should be utilized wisely and not just to fill screen time, The Two Towers did an excellent job at this as I understood the plot, characters, current events without having to rewind or slowly analyze each scene. Lastly, I'll briefly discuss the lighting used in this film. I have to say first its just darn phenomenal, I wasn't expecting such intricate use of lighting throughout the film, I included two shots above I felt support my claim the most. When Gandalf introduces himself in this cave, the seemingly natural god rays pair perfectly with the color scheme of this movie, as it gives a slightly darker tone to the sequence, but yet it's not too much. Further, when the group meets King Théoden and realize he's being manipulated, I love how there's apparent use of hard lighting on Gríma to reflect his evil intentions while cuts to the King involve soft, white lighting, reflecting his soul being brought back to reality by Gandalf and out of the grasp of Saruman. While the one picture included doesn't reflect this as dramatically, if you watch the scene again its utilized so perfectly and it doesn't go unnoticed. Alright, I think I'm nearly done praising this movie, overall almost every aspect of this movie was just beautifully shot, directed, or explained. While Return Of The King still reins as my favorite installment in the series, The Two Towers is a very close second and I don't regret spending over nine hours in total watching this movie. Once again, I would highly recommend this movie to anyone who is a fan of action/fiction storytelling, and I'll review the following installment next week, likely with more praise, so brace yourself.
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Personally, I loved this movie. I was going to write about the next Lord Of The Rings, but I watched this over the weekend and was presently surprised by how well the story, animation, and music all complimented one another to form a marvelous story. In my opinion, Encanto succeeded in a lot of areas other Disney animated movies fell short. While I'm not saying other animated movies like Luca are bad, this movie just felt like it had more soul to it. Granted too I did not know what to expect when we turned this movie on, I thought it was going to be sort of a typical Disney movie, in the sense that it's not going to be bad, but I might forget about the plot or story in two weeks or so. Diving into the movie, in Disney movies, they always follow this hero's journey formula with characters such as a comedic relief character, a quirky protagonist with flaws or skills that don't match others, a wise character who often loses their way in thinking they're right, an action character or one who advances the plot by having an overwhelming intrusive personality, and finally allies to the protagonist either met along the way or typically brothers and sisters. Taking this idea into the movie, all these characters are apparent within the first five minutes of the film, though this time it felt like they belonged. Meaning, in other Disney animated movies I felt as though some characters were just implemented to fill a certain role and either didn't have much background or were brought in for a solid two minutes to give a reason to advance to the next stage of the Hero's Journey. Though like I mentioned, Encanto brought in all of the characters above, but either through well-written songs or brief, but informing backstories, the viewer got to know each family member and their significance in regards to Mirabel's story. Take Bruno for example, a mystery character who could've fully served as the reason to advance plot such as Mirabel finding his journal or some type of object which tells her about the true nature of the candle and their family. However, Disney chose to elaborate on him and his background, which ended up feeling more natural. Aspects like this are why I was presently surprised by this movie overall and enjoy it more than I originally thought. Additionally, it has a meaningful message and at least one character the general audience could relate to in some way which I found very entertaining. Finally, the movie itself was just beautifully drawn and animated, in every dance sequence or even when Mirabel is just walking with her dress, I can't imagine the time it took to create these scenes, and even if the story was bad, I would rate this movie very high solely due to the animation. Overall, I really enjoyed this movie, and compared to a large portion of Disney animated films, it drastically improved on elements from previous films. I would highly recommend this movie to anyone, as it has no adult themes or violence and is entertaining even for a seventeen year old.
For this series I'm going to switch the format of my blog since the movies I will cover in the next few weeks couldn't possibly be summed up in less than a page, nor would I want to condense these exemplar films into less than a page. I will however give a very brief overview of the setting and theme of the movie for those who haven't seen the films. Additionally, I want to try my best to stay spoiler free for these reviews as the plot created and the sheer depth each story has is amazing to watch The setting is Middle Earth, where Hobbits (little creatures with a talent for farming) live in peace at the edge of this world in a little community called The Shire. In this community we have Frodo (our protagonist), Sam, Merry, and Pippin. Four Hobbits with a passion for adventure and a naïve drive for danger. During a celebration for Bilbo Baggins (Frodo's father), we're introduced to Gandalf, a passionate, old, wise, and witty wizard who has a special relationship and past with Bilbo. Eventually, Bilbo announces to everyone he is leaving The Shire and will not be returning, which is uncommon for Hobbits as they usually live all their long life in the same place. Before he tries to sneak away, Gandalf and Frodo catch him and ask him why he's leaving. He then explains how stuck up everyone is and how he must entrust his greatest achievement to Gandalf, The Ring. Now this isn't any common gold ring, in Middle Earth there are rings that possess great power, power which corrupts the minds of those who wear them and turn them into what are known as Ringwraiths. These Ringwraiths live in constant agony as they serve the Dark Lord known as Sauron. In his prime, Sauron forged "One ring to rule them all," but after his defeat in battle against the human race. Sauron was banished to solidarity and has been growing in strength as his Ringwraiths search for his lost ring. Additionally, this ring has a parasite like effect on the user, as Bilbo has an immense mental bond with it and almost refuses to part with it. After Gandalf fills Frodo in on the true nature of his father, the bunch decide to set out and destroy the ring once and for all, with the help of a few allies.
I won't give any more away about the film as I tried my best to create a setting for those who haven't seen the movie. However, I inevitably missed important details in my quick summary, which I highly encourage anyone who hasn't seen the films to rent H.B.O Max for a weekend and binge them, trust me you won't be disappointed. I was encouraged by my father to watch all extended editions of the films when I was down for three months with major ankle sprains. I was reluctant at first to watch all of these films, as I have never been a huge Lord Of The Rings fan, the only familiarity I had with the series was Middle Earth: Shadow of War which is a videogame that takes place in this setting. However, after two weeks of on and off watching all the extended edition films Hobbit and Lord of The Rings, I have such a passion for these films now. I watched them again passively over the last few weeks just for fun, as these became movies I could watch over and over and still find little hidden details or interesting foreshadowing. I suppose the next few reviews will be more critiques and thoughts rather than a summary of the film, but I'll touch on what the first did right vs. the second and mention my thoughts as well next week. Overall though be prepared for a lot of praise in the coming weeks as these are some of the most well thought out and fiction rich movies I've ever had the pleasure to watch. Warning: Disturbing Themes/ Spoilers Ahead!
John Wick Chapter 1 begins with the audience observing the retired lifestyle of the infamous assassin known as John Wick. Known for his brutality and stealth, John has retired from the dangerous lifestyle in search of contentment through starting a family with his wife. However, his wife passed away and we observe John in mourning of the lonely lifestyle he now lives. Though he receives a gift one gloomy afternoon from his wife, his wife left him a puppy to remind him of their love and give him an extra friend to mourn with. One night, when John turns in for bed early with his new puppy, a group of Russian mobsters led by one Tarasov, son of an infamous crime lord, with a passion for ruining his father's business. He proceeds to beat up John in the middle of the night and in a pure sadistic haze, he kills the puppy and leave John unconscious. The movie then cuts to Tarasov trying to chop John's car, the mechanic immediately realizes who he stole the car from and strikes Tarasov and tells him to leave promptly. Tarasov's father then confronts his son and beats him, realizing what he's done, he mourns his son's pending death. Then, in what I consider to be one of the best scenes in Cinema history, Tarasov's father explains the backstory behind why John Wick was able to leave the assassin life and why everyone is terrified to even contact the man. We see John Wick readying for the approaching battle and confrontation with his dog's killer. The movie then cuts to non-stop action sequences filled with amazing, brutal, and energizing jump cuts, smash cuts, and beautifully choreographed fight scenes. Eventually, after over one hundred of Tarasov's men lay dead, John gets his revenge after tracking his son to a nightclub, then to an autobody shop where he shoots him in the head before he can muster a sentence. Filled with rage, Tarasov's father confronts John himself and ends up losing after a brutal fight sequence. Chapter 1 then ends with a beautiful set up for the second installment into the series and the audience is left guessing what will become of the notorious assassin who found bloodthirsty spark once again. Compared to my other blogs on movies, this one was rather brief. However, I didn't feel it was appropriate to describe every action sequence as I couldn't do the directors and actors justice. The choreography in these fight scenes are unparalleled, the actors are so immersed in their roles, the art style and cinematography style is gritty and dark which fits perfectly, the backstory behind John Wick is explained in less than ten minutes and provides the audience with a haunting and detailed backstory, the brutality of each fight sequence represents the true savageness of the assassin life. I could go on and on about this movie for an hour, I truly believe Chapter 1 is one of the most well directed movies of all time, and to me the John Wick series is my all time favorite. As you can tell I'm a little passionate about this movie, though I've watched it so many times, yet it never gets old and each scene has such depth and detail it just draws you in. Overall, I think this movie is fantastic, anyone who doesn't mind blood or killing should definitely watch this movie as its an exemplar of the action genre. Warning: Extremely Disturbing Depictions and Spoilers Ahead!
This disturbing, but thrilling take on the events of WW2 begins with a Jewish family hiding out in the countryside of a retired French officer. After living in years of peace, the French officers is visited by the Hans Landa, a German Colonel notorious for hunting Concentration Camp escapees. After being forced to give up the family, the Nazis open fire on the innocent family living under the floorboard, and out of pure hatred Hans tries to shoot the last surviving daughter, but fails and screams racial slurs as she runs away. The movie then introduces us to the "Basterds" a group of unique Americans looking to instill fear into the German army through gruesome methods. The movie then takes a dark turn into the actions of this group, to save you the details, it is very effective in getting information out of lower ranking soldiers and through these methods the group learns of Hitler's plan to gather the majority of the Nazi army to a local theater as a display of power and fearlessness against the enemy. This theatre happens to be run by Shoshanna, however, she changed her name since her family was killed by the Nazi's which the viewer witnessed at the beginning of the film. Accompanied by a fearless Janitor, she forms a relationship with a renown Nazi war hero and builds enough trust to meet Hitler and convince him to host the gathering at their theatre. The group then devises a plan to use highly flammable film and change the layout of the theatre ever so slightly to trap the high ranking officials in a violent inferno. Meanwhile, the Basterds are hard at work infiltrating the German army and recruiting those looking for revenge against the Nazis, after being discovered, the group hears of Shoshanna's plan and agrees to help carry out this event. As the event comes near, a Nazi officer figures our their plan and makes a deal with the Americans for his supposed freedom after Hitler is assassination. That night, everything goes according to plan, up until Shoshanna is chocked out right before she can light the film, however, her ally suspected something occurred and sacrificed himself to start the fire, which burns all major German officers, effectively rendering the army useless, and the war over. The Basterds then break their deal with the German officer, as he is a "beast that never should be comfortable again." And in their gruesome fashion, leave the Nazi symbol scarred on his forehead as the movie comes to a close with the monument to Shoshanna, her ally, and to the Basterds for ending WW2. For how gruesome this movie was, I actually enjoyed it. I'm a big history nerd and movies that bring a happier ending or a unique take on the events of WW2 are refreshing as most often these stories don't have happy endings. I thought the movie was funny as well, its meant to be a comedic approach to a serious topic, similar to Jojo Rabbit. I believe the directors did an excellent job regarding this topic, as the viewer understands the seriousness of what is occurring, but also can laugh at the idiocy of the German army. Overall, I believe anyone who doesn't mind gore and likes comedy should watch this. Though, its very emotional at times so I would proceed with caution as the theme focuses on perhaps the most horrendous actions humanity has ever seen. Warning: Spoilers Ahead!
Shaun lives a normal life in San Francisco. He fails to seize opportunity and advancements in his career and in turn remains as a valet for millionaires. In which he and his friend Katy goof off and drive test each eccentric car that is presented to them. After a few nights of questioning his position in his relationship and his future, Shaun decides to make a major change to his life. However, as he's riding the bus home he's attacked by a private army known as "The Ten Rings." Shaun fights off these assassins, though they weren't there to take his life, they were there for his necklace. A pendent given to him by his mother, one that could never be replaced and holds an unearthly power. After his conflict Shaun reveals to the audience and to Katy about his past as an assassin trained by his father to be a relentless killer after the passing of his mother. He was trained at the Ten Rings headquarters for seven years and became an infamous son to his father. His father possesses the power of the Ten Rings. These Ten Rings allow the wearer to harness energy from other dimensions and grants near eternal life. Therefore his father has lived through conflicts throughout history, dating back thousands of years. Shaun knows this and heads out with Katy to seek out his sister whom he trained with and abandoned when she needed him most. However upon arriving she still hates him to his core for how he abandoned her and left her with her father alone. She now runs an underground fighting ring in which she decides to demonstrate how she trained for years by herself and knocks Shaun (Shang-Chi) out. When he wakes up she explains to Shang-Chi how he is isn't valuable to her, and she can manage without him, just as she says this, The Ten Rings infiltrate the area and try to kill the family in search of the last pendent worn by Shang-Chi's sister. However as the battle reaches its climax and Shang-Chi is about to execute his father's greatest warrior, his father shows up and embraces him like he never left and rejected his teachings. He then goes on to justify the sudden attack as a test to ensure he's still one of the greatest warrior's alive. Against their will, his father takes the group back to the place they have tried to run away from their entire life. At the compound scars refuse to heal as they recall memories of their brutal past. To soothe their return his father claims to have found the origin of their mothers power and the village which she came from, and supposedly still remains. We then find out their mother hails from a village not known to earth, one in which majestic creatures from legends live in harmony with the local populace and an ancient spirit who takes the form of a dragon dwells and keeps the peace between those living. Though the entrance to this place is not achieved without sacrifice or knowledge and their father claims to have found a way inside, preaching that the very people she grew up with are holding her spirit captive and they must free her. Upon seeing the insanity their father has succumbed to, the group promptly denies the request. Saddened by their unwillingness, their father locks them up where they meet the fake Mandarin from Iron Man and his little furry friend Morris. Morris grew up in this village and claims to know how to get there, though he's only 19% sure they'll make it alive. Undeterred, the group hijacks a vehicle and break out of their father's compound and travel to the forest where the entrance beckons for another victim. Eventually, the group makes it and meets their Aunt who was extremely close to their mother and vouches for them to the village. Days pass as the group prepares for the inevitable onslaught their father wishes to bring to the people and animals in the village, however, their Aunt teaches them to let go of the fury instilled in them by their father and fight like the spirits. The following day, during the war, their father defeats Shang-Chi and runs to "free" their mother who turns out to be an evil being who's been tormenting him with dreams and whispers for months. The evil dwells behind a wall of dragon scales, which can only be punctured by the Ten Rings their father possesses. However, after their father realizes his mistakes, the evil spirit is unleashed and kills their father who sacrificed himself to give Shang-Chi the Ten Rings and give hope to save the people. Shang-Chi wastes no time and teams up with the Dragon Spirit and his sister to defeat the evil being and rid the village of their seemingly inevitable fate. In a moment of self-discovery, Shang-Chi uses the true good of the Ten Rings to defeat the being and save the village. As the movie comes to a close, it teases the next Doctor Strange and begs the question regarding of the origin of the power imbued in the Ten Rings. Overall, I loved this movie. The fighting, the CGI, the story, the comedy, the characters, the backstory, the art style, the country's history, all comes together to form this masterpiece. While it doesn't take a spot in my Top 5 marvel movies of all time, it certainly remains as a solid installment into the MCU. I had no major conflicts with this film, I did find Katy's jokes annoying at times, but no major flaws in any other aspect. Therefore, I would highly recommend this film to anyone who is a fan of the MCU, further, if you appreciate Ancient Chinese Culture and their beliefs, this movie does an excellent job mixing true history with fiction. Warning: Spoilers Ahead!
Aquaman begins with a lighthouse keeper named Tom Curry embracing his wife as they revel in the beauty of the ocean. Armed soldiers then assault the seemingly innocent family, shooting and destroying the house to pieces. They then begin to demand that Tom's wife, Atlanna, return to Atlantis to be tried for her crimes against the government and her people. Atlanna gets dragged out into the ocean against her will as Tom yells her name and collapses out of the agony of losing his wife. We then are introduced to Arthur, a half-human, half-Atlantean raised by Tom. Arthur becomes an outcast after an incident at a field trip in which he is revealed to be able to communicate with all forms of ocean life. Tom then introduces him to his heritage and he begins to train with Vulko, a feared Atlantean soldier, who in despite of her actions, still respected Atlanna and offers to train Arthur. After years of training, Arthur then finds out the fate of his mother and rejects his heritage and refuses to inherit his right as king. However, eventually a mysterious woman named Mera seeks Arthur out and persuades him to at least hear out the rival, Orm. Orm is a ruthless dictator who intends to bring the power of Atlantis to the surface and wage war against the land. Eventually, Arthur challenges Orm to a duel underwater, and whoever wins will take the throne and the other will die. Arthur loses and as Mera rescues him, they get shot down into the desert in which they're looking for clues to King Atlan's Trident. The Trident channels one's ability to communicate local ocean life and expands it to the entire ocean and gives them the ability to influence them. The pair ends up finding a clue and heads out to sea where they find the trench in which horrid creatures dwell and prey on innocent fisherman. These monsters are a condemned race of people who lost a war many centuries ago and have been banished to live like animals beneath the ocean's floor. In the midst of a hurricane and being attacked by the monsters, Arthur and Mera get separated and end up finding Arthur's mother in a universe both known and unknown to Atlanteans. A separate world that dwells beneath the earth's core and houses the world's seemingly extinct docile creatures. In this small universe, Arthur finds the trident guarded by an ancient monster who deters any would be thief from stealing from the king. As Arthur communicates with the monster, the monster is taken back as it has not communicated with a human since King Atlan. The beats allows Arthur to clutch the Trident and in a wonderful climax of an orchestral masterpiece, Arthur claims the Trident and vows to wage war on Orm to prevent him from emerging to the surface. Arthur then emerges and begins his onslaught to the Atlantean army riding the beast. Eventually, the ocean defeats Orm and the two duel in front of the entire kingdom. Arthur breaks Orm's staff and spares him as Atlanna is revealed to be alive and well. Orm embraces her and vows to change his way as Arthur brings the entire kingdom together with a ceremonial chant, united under one Trident. Overall I thought this was a very good addition to the DC Universe. I wasn't the most enthusiastic going into the movie, but I thought almost every aspect of the movie was well thought out and directed. The only strife I have with this film is how Arthur and Mera sort of just find this ancient area with the only clue to the Trident in the entire universe just causally. I know they had to use their wits and previous knowledge to find it, but a lot of factors just sort of caught me off guard and made me question how they were to find this Trident's location that was lost for thousands of years so easily. Though I understand the Wan's situation where he has to kind of speed up the movie as they can't just be searching the desert for half the film, but I would've appreciated maybe 15ish more minutes of maybe conflict on finding it, or having other characters get involved in the search. However, I would recommend this movie to anyone who is a fan of the DC Universe and likes Sci-Fi films, the action was great, the fighting wasn't cut too much and Jason Momoa plays the main role flawlessly. Warning: Disturbing Depictions/Themes Ahead
Insidious Chapter 2 begins with elaborating on the cliffhanger from the previous installment. The family is interrogated by a detective investigating Lorraine's sudden death. The detective begins to accuse Renai of murdering Lorraine in cold blood following the untold events of the previous movie's climax. After their interrogation, the family moves to a new home in hopes of starting a new life far away from the nightmares that haunted them for years. However, after weeks of peace, the family falls victims to a multitude of hauntings and harmful acts by the demons from The Further. After their son is almost killed, they consult the remaining crew of Lorraine in hopes of finding some solution to their seemingly unending problems. Eventually, the team figures out that that a woman wearing a black dress has been seen throughout Josh's life, slowly tormenting him, waiting for the right time to possess his spirit. Upon discovering this, they follow the trail of this mysterious woman in black to her real life actions. In which she murdered newly wed wives and was dubbed "The Black Wedding Dress Killer" and has been banished to a life of torment in The Further. Josh then becomes possessed by this killer and tries to murder his beloved family. Frantically, his son enters The Further in an attempt to save his father and stop the woman from taking over Josh entirely. After almost falling victim to the demons of The Further, Josh and his son meet Lorraine who banishes the demons from coming near the family ever again. They then find the lost family members of the victims of the woman's killings, and with Lorraine's help, bring them out of The Further and banish the killer to hell for eternity. After taking a deep sigh of relief and embracing each other once again after a traumatic incident, the family once again vows to move on from this life, and ensure Lorraine's involvement in their lives is not forgotten. Though, as the movie is supposedly going to end on a happy note, we see Lorraine pondering her existence in The Further, and as the movie fades to black, Lorraine is startled by the horrifying sound of the infamous red faced demon that was supposedly banished for eternity. Overall I believe this movie was sort of good, sort of bad, I suppose in the middle. I enjoy James Wan's directing style of horror films, as he builds suspense very effectively and keeps the viewer entertained and alert. Though, Chapter 2 felt as if it was the same timeline of the first movie except just slightly different events. Meaning, the family moves into a new house, gets haunted, finds a creepy detail, enters The Further, finds another twist/creepy detail, exits, embraces, and vows to leave this life behind. While it wasn't a bad movie, after seeing Chapter 1 fairly recently, the plot almost felt repeated, and before watching I knew Chapter 3 exists. However, the cliffhanger to the next film in my opinion could've been done better. I don't claim to be an expert on films, but perhaps something more sinister rather than just presenting characters that have been haunted/are still haunted. Again, it just feels like a similar plot to the first film. Though I believe if your a fan of horror movies, you'll enjoy this film, I just hope Chapter 3 follows a different format or entails more sinister twists/characters. Warning: Disturbing Depictions/Themes Ahead
The Insidious story begins with the Josh, Renai, and their children moving into a new house, wanting to start a new life, far away from their past. Their son, Dalton, is a unique child, one that never truly fit in at school and always felt life had been twisted against him. Overtime as the family begins renovations to the house and settles in, the family starts to notice strange events. Such as old music, random bloody handprints, terrifying static and white noise, and banging coming from the attic. One afternoon after school, Dalton climbs the ladder to the attic to investigate the odd rhythmic banging and upon seeing a shadowy figure, climbs into a vulnerable position on top of the ladder. From which, the figure runs towards him and he falls down the ladder, hitting his head, and knocking him into a strange coma. As Dalton remains in a haunting coma, Josh and Renai begin to be attacked by this seemingly demonic presence. Night after night they are terrorized by nightmares and as the events become severe, they decide to call a paranormal investigator named Elise. Upon arriving Elise sees a red figure standing by Dalton, indicating that he wants his soul and will accept nothing less. Elise is then revealed to have saved Dalton from a previous haunting from an old witch that wanted what this red figure desires. She then explains Dalton has a unique ability to travel to a place called "The Further." A place in which lost souls, looking for love, or damned souls remain for eternity. She then reveals that Josh (Dalton's Father) has this ability as well, but to a lesser degree. Since Dalton has been in a coma, his body has become a vessel for these souls to posses and his lifeless body also acts as a doorway between these two worlds. Determined to save his son, Josh without hesitation, enters "The Further" to save his son. In which he faces past experiences that have haunted him for years, as the demons try to break his will to turn him into a vessel. After receiving words of encouragement from his family, Josh seemingly defeats both demons threatening his son's well-being. He then comes back to reality and all seems to be well for the family. Though suspecting something is amiss, Elise photographs Josh and its revealed that the old woman possessed Josh during his time in "The Further." He then lunges at Elise and strangles her to death as the movie fades to black with sinister music coming to a climax. Similar to the Conjuring 2, I believe Insidious Chapter 1 is a very well directed and thought out horror film. As James Wan utilizes all horrifying elements in the horror genre to keep you on the edge of your seat and make you want to cover your ears every other scene. I mentioned in another review that modern horror movies often rely on cliché aspects to scare their viewer. Though when it comes to James Wan, I believe he truly knows how to scare and disturb the viewer without relying on these cheap and overused strategies. Overall, I believe this movie is worth watching if your a horror fan, and is just the beginning when it comes to the Insidious film series. Warning: Disturbing Depictions/Themes Ahead
The Conjuring 2 revolves around renowned paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren. Who have since moved on from the frightening experience of the Amityville Haunting in the first film. The pair now are criticized for their involvement in paranormal activities with famous talk show hosts purposely placing them on stage to criticize and make fun of. The movie then takes us to north London, where the Hodginson family has just moved into a run down house rumored to be haunted by evil spirits that curse those who step on their land. Reluctantly, the family moves in and tries to live a normal life with this little thought growing in the back of their head. The movie then begins to shift focus on the evil spirit who begins to terrorize and torment the family while preying on the youngest daughter’s soul. The family then calls the Warren’s to come and check to see the events unfold, but upon arriving they believe it to be a hoax, and after all the recent criticism they’ve undergone, they leave. However, as they leave the town, Lorraine feels something isn’t right and the couple turn back to find the girl fully possessed by a demon. Ed and Lorraine slowly begin the process of an Exorcism by bringing in a high ranking Catholic official to perform the ceremony. When this occurs, the Warren’s make contact with the tortured soul and begin to question the demon’s motives. After this, they banish the demon from inhabiting a vessel on earth and quell the evil lurking in the shadows of the old home. Believing the family to be safe, the Warren’s board a train home and begin reviewing tape recordings and searching for clues as to why this occurred. In a chillin recording, Ed figures out that the demon they banished was being controlled by one of the most powerful and sinister demons of Hell. This demon not only used this poor old man to scare the family, but tortured him into appearing to be a harmful soul and manipulated his position for her own personal gain. Upon arriving, the house is in shambles as the movie comes to a climax with Lorraine confronting the infamous demon by banishing it back to Hell with a special relic and commanding its name over and over. After fearing for Ed’s life, Lorraine ends up saving her husband and the family from certain death, and quite possibly the world. After these events, the family moves, and real photographs and recordings are once again displayed during the credits. When I first saw this movie in 2016 when it was released, it shook me to my core. As I am a fan of horror films and enjoy getting scared and possibly laughing at how bad the movie tries to scare the viewer. Though with this film, it did an excellent job at creating an eerie atmosphere that always made your stomach feel uneasy whenever the characters moved about the set. Additionally, I believe the ending to the film was beautifully done, as Ed’s near death experience was foreshadowed constantly by prior events and Lorraine’s visions. Personally I appreciate these little details as it encourages one to rewatch the film and look for hidden clues, also I believe it shows the directors put more thought into each scene and I appreciate that. One common area that tends to make or break movies is their scary characters, demons, monsters, etc. But The Conjuring 2 did an amazing job at taking these innocent, but also eerie characters/objects and turning them into vessels of pure evil, one which we as children perhaps never thought possible. And it wonderfully illustrates the theme of just how evil these beings are, as they use innocent lives for their own gain and perform acts that we as humans just shudder at the thought of. Overall I believe this movie was one of the best horror films I’ve seen, as it is really hard to have a sequel that almost, if not tops the first film, and the Conjuring 2 did an excellent job at keeping within its designated universe, while representing a gold-tier standard for atmospheric and supernatural horror. |
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