Black Phone 2

I remember watching the first black phone. It was at the beginning of my letterboxd journey but I remember loving it.

Now 3 years later watching the second film in theaters I am not dissapointed but more so kinda lukewarm on the film.
The grabber is now a freddy Kreuger like character and I think the film using his actual physical form sparingly is pretty cool.

Where i think this film goes wrong is in its main leads. So much from the first film is explained but it lingers on certain things a bit to short for it to feel conclusive.
It feels like the cut that is released was trimmed down but thats not official, that's just how it feels.
Im not a big fan of mason thames(sorry juggler) i despised him in the httyd remake from this year and here he is better but both him and his female co lead give over dramatic performance and don't get me wrong i love mr kim coppola cage but they deliver their lines very forcefully.

Every sequence that looked like it was shot on a really old camera felt cool up until the third act where most of these scenes were placed in the location that is covered in green screen so then it turns and looks sloppy.

Ethan hawke is as fun as ever in this role and i do like the grabber in this new form its just that the way he can be defeated is way to easy and way to much like the first film in a way.
Gwen and finn's character arcs and story are somewhat good, while the performances are a mixed bag, the story is good here and allot of it does build upon the first film(so does the grabber's reason to return) but the film adds a few new characters that honestly shouldn't have gotten so many lines or screentime. Ernest? Replace him with a plank of wood and his character would stay the same.
And the people at the camp are blank slates besides mando(kinda)
I did enjoy this film and its story, i still like finney and gwen but the script is corny and flimsey allong the way.

(Also watch my newest film https://boxd.it/bpfVaF )

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Black Phone 2 is scarier than the first, which felt more like a supernatural thriller. This one is definitely more centered on horror, specifically of a Freddy Krueger variety.

There was also a clear effort to make this one funny, so Gwen's profanity laden one liners have been increased a bit too much. They definitely DID make it funnier, but I'm not sure why. I think it takes away from it.

I think the first one is better but that I'd enjoy rewatching this one more.

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