Friday the 13th Part 2


 

Plot Synopsis: 

Five years after the events of the first film, a new group of camp counselors have an unlucky day while they fall prey to a completely new killer. 

Positives: 

One of the areas where I think this movie greatly improves on the first film is in its pacing. This movie moves quite a bit faster than the first movie did. There is also something to be said that this is the first movie in the franchise where Jason is the killer. Ginny is also a standout final girl, which is an accomplishment for this franchise. Like any Friday the 13th movie, this franchise also has some very fun kills. Once again, I also need to highlight Harry Manfredini's score. Much like the first movie, the score practically feels like a character all its own. On that note, I also really think the characters are a vast improvement in this film over the characters in the first film. Sure, there isn't much to them, but it does feel like they have a bit more personality in this film than a lot of the characters in the first film. I should also say this movie has some pretty solid direction. 

Mixed Aspects: 

This was a surprise, even to me, but I actually have mixed feelings toward Alice (the first film's final girl) in this movie, especially because I didn't really have that much of an opinion on her in the first movie. On one hand, I kind of appreciate the idea of immediately establishing that no one is safe by killing her off right away. On the other hand, I also feel like killing her off right away undermined her as a character. In this movie, she feels like someone worth exploring. 

Negatives: 

This might seem like a bit of a nitpick, but I do have to point out the logistics of Jason being the killer. It's not that Jason being the killer makes no sense. The primary issue is the original film clearly only using him as an ending jump scare. In this moment, Jason is still very much a young child. So, when you really think about it, it doesn't fully make sense to have this version of Jason be a fully grown man. But, as I said, this moment is really just me nitpicking. Speaking of nitpicking, I've also never been a huge fan of this movie's Jason. I don't think it's awful by any means, but I also think there's a benefit of hindsight with this film. While they aren't as egregious, there are definitely some moments of padding. For example, I think Alice's dreaming about the events of the first film were pretty clunky.   

Final Thoughts: 

It's interesting to me to go back to these movies and realize just how much I actually think this movie is an improvement over the first film. It's better paced, and better crafted. Most of the issues I have with this movie are minor at best. 

My Rating: 

🩸🩸🩸🩸 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Final Destination 3

Plot Synopsis: During a school field trip to an amusement park, Wendy has a vision of a roller coaster derailing and killing her and several of her classmates. She panics and manages to get herself and a few of her classmates off of the ride before it derails. Death begins coming back to collect. When Wendy starts seeing clues as to how they all die in the pictures she took, she and her best friend’s boyfriend work together to try and put a stop to Death’s plan. Positives: So, I think this movie really benefits from having Mary Elizabeth Winstead in the lead. She gives easily the best performance in this movie. Once again, this third film does a good job playing into the franchise’s dark sense of humor.  Mixed Aspects: The first thing I want to address here is the kills. The tanning bed and the nail gun are both all timer kills for this franchise. One of the things I think hurts some of the kills here is that this is the point where the franchise starts to become reliant on CGI gor...
Read more

The Final Destination

Plot Synopsis: While at a NASCAR type event, Nick has a vision of one of the race cars crashing causing a lot of deaths. Realizing what’s about to happen, he gets himself and a select few people out before the crash happens. Of course, Death comes back to collect. Positives: A couple of kills are okay. There’s a scene where a racist guy gets lit on fire while being dragged by his tow truck (all while the radio plays “Why Can’t We Be Friends”). I want to highlight this kill because it’s the one time in the movie where I laugh, and I feel like that’s the intent. The other kill that I kind of like is the guy who ends up at the bottom of the pool. One of the side characters is a security guard played by Mykelti Williamson. Williamson is the best actor in the movie, and it’s not even close. Negatives: All of our main characters suck. At best, they’re bland. At worst, they’re annoying. I mentioned in my review for the third movie, that I felt the writing was weaker than it was in the first t...
Read more

Scream 7

  Plot Synopsis:  After years of being traumatized by Ghostface killings, Sidney Prescott has relocated to the town of Pine Grove, Indiana. Now her oldest daughter Tatum is the same age that she was when the Ghostface killings began. Of course, a new Ghostface pops up to begin slicing people up to get to Sidney and her daughter.  Positives: As usual, Neve Campbell shows up to work. I kind of like that this is a Sidney Prescott dealing with motherhood. She's still a very guarded person. I kind of like that the lesson she has to learn is that she has to teach her daughter how to be a fighter, and that Sidney needs to learn that she can't always be there to protect her kid. Isabel May is solid as Tatum. Something I like that I know is not going to be for everybody is how they utilize Matthew Lillard. I won't go into spoilers here. I also like how Chad and Mindy are integrated into the movie too. Having them as Gale's interns is actually kind of fun. I should also say that ...
Read more