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Gladiator II doesn't do enough to set itself apart from the original. It justifies its existence but could have been better.
Posted in: Movies, Review | Tagged: blumhouse, Halloween Ends, jamie lee curtis, Michael Myers
Halloween Ends All Right, A Confusing And Frustrating One {Review}
Halloween Ends brings this current trilogy, and maybe the franchise, to a conclusion that will more than likely not satisfy anyone. This is a franchise film that has waited until the thirteenth film to take the biggest risks they have ever attempted and fail on almost every level. That being said, the chances they do take make for an entertaining watch, more from a curiosity standpoint. The very heavy concepts touched upon in this film feel like they are above director David Gordon Green's abilities, which leads to many of the failures in execution. It is a mess, but one you cannot look away from.
Halloween Ends Is Not At All What You Think It Is
Halloween Ends opens four years after the events of Halloween 2018 and Halloween Kills. Haddonfield has not coped well as a community following Michael Myers' latest reign of terror, and many people cannot handle it. In 2019, we met Corey (Rohan Campbell), a high school senior who is babysitting a younger boy while his parents go to a Halloween party. As the night continues with the two, a tragedy takes place that sends Corey down a dark path; ending up befriended by Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) and her granddaughter Allison (Andi Matichak). As people start dying, The Shape returns for one final showdown with Laurie, winner take all, and in Haddonfield's case, an attempt to begin to heal.
Going into this film, one would be forgiven for thinking that the entire runtime would be devoted to the said final showdown between Michael and Laurie, as that is what was sold to us for the last year. Nothing could be further from the truth. No, David Gordon Green doesn't want to finish the story of Michael Myers at all. He wants to tell the story of Haddonfield. This last film is more about how evil is everywhere and how some places are infected by it. All you have to do is invite it in. And because Green isn't interested in Michael Myers, this story is told through the character of Corey.
Corey is sure to be one of the most divisive horror characters in recent memory. Not because of Rohan Campbell, who does a wonderful job in the role, considering some of the material he is given to work with, and his descent into madness is actually the strongest narrative of the film, especially in the romantic relationship that develops between Corey and Allison. But the hamfisted way his story is delivered is clunky at best, and when you make that the center of a franchise film, supposedly the last, you will have a revolt on your hands. Through no fault of Campbell's, Corey is going to be reviled by the majority of fans, mainly because he isn't Michael Myers. It is as simple as that, never mind some of the character choices made between the two.
Narratively, Halloween Ends cannot decide which horror film it most wants to ape from. Some of the films that clearly inspired this are Jason Goes to Hell, Friday The 13th part 5, Natural Born Killers, Scream, Halloween 3: Season of the Witch, and Halloween: Curse of Michael Myers, and there are a few others thrown in as well. The screenplay is credited to four different writers- Green, Danny McBride, Chris Bernier, and Paul Brad Logan, and it is painfully obvious that there were too many cooks in the kitchen here. None of the characters have consistent voices. Jamie Lee Curtis is completely lost throughout the film and the one most betrayed by the script. There are just so many tonal shifts that your eyes kind of glaze over halfway through. Not helping is the very choppy edit; it is also clear that it must have taken many, many takes to get the ones Green wanted, and there must be multiple cuts of this film, probably all different from each other. When you cannot decide what movie you want to make, you end up with a Frankenstein-ed mess, which is what happened here.
One wonders if maybe Green just didn't want to make Halloween Kills or Halloween Ends at all, and many are going to wish that he hadn't. Trying to close out a trilogy and franchise like Halloween with some weird attempt at elevated horror was an interesting choice, but the material seems above his head. Freed from the shackles of Haddonfield, this could be an interesting character study, but stretching the Michael Myers mask over it means you have to include things that otherwise do not feel like they fit. The last twenty minutes, featuring the promised showdown, feel like a tacked-on short film, like he was forced to include it. When bringing a 44-year journey to an end, it deserves better than that. There is a conclusion as well, though it doesn't feel nearly as satisfying when it is over as it should, mainly because we spent the first hour and twenty minutes on a completely different journey altogether.
Still, never are you bored. The absurdity of it all is still entertaining, and boy, is it brutal. This three-film run is hands down the most violent of the series, without question, and this one features some pretty gruesome stuff. Once again, though, one kill, clearly, the favorite of Green's, is over the top and then lingered on for way too long to make sure that you get the joke. The character or characters who meet their end in the final confrontation are for sure dead as well, as they go to great lengths to show you that they are done for, and it is bloody and well done. A fitting end for them if this is indeed said ending.
Which nobody believes will actually be the case. The Halloween franchise has so many different timelines it would be super easy for someone to walk in and say, "The Green trilogy? That is retconned." and we will have The Shape back in our lives yet again. But if that doesn't happen, is Halloween Ends a good ending for an icon like Michael Myers, or Laurie Strode, or the town of Haddonfield itself? The answer is no. Frankly, Michael really isn't the focus of his own swansong, and for a series that brands itself as the forebearer of slasher cinema, they deserved to go out with a roar and not…whatever this is. The story they are trying to tell is commendable, and in more capable, steady hands, it could have been really good, but as a franchise closer, it was a huge mistake. Spread the story throughout the trilogy, and it may have worked. Instead, this film is clunky, not well-made, and sure to be one of the most talked about in the franchise for years to come, for all the wrong reasons. It is a fun watch, but not as they intended.
Halloween Ends
4/10
Halloween Ends takes a lot of chances that a lot of fans will not be onboard for, and it not a satisfying wrap up to the story of Michael Myers and Laurie Strode at all. Entertaining, sure, but a mess of a film as well.
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