Insidious: Chapter 2

Before tonight I had no prior knowledge on 'Insidious', so I dedicated 3.5 hours in a theatre watching both Insidious 1 and 2 so I could write this review...and also to see how much horror I could handle. I will say that both films feel less like a horror movie and more like a beating from MMA star Rampage Jackson.

The second film picks up directly where the last left off, the father (Patrick Wilson), has returned from a demention within our own filled with the spirits of the dead in order to bring his son back from a coma. Meanwhile, multiple ghosts and dark demons are attempting to enter the empty boy's body in order to "live" again. This involves the  help of a spiritual guide of sorts, Elise (Lin Shaye), to awaken the young families to see the world beyond what they can see. Without retelling the story, the father succeeds in bringing his son back to reality, but what the family thinks is their father, ends up being a old demon that just wont quit.

The reason I refer to the film as a beating is because at the beginning the director (James Wan), gives you about 5 minutes of story setup before its scare, after scare, after scare until you wish to leave the theatre because you just can't take it anymore. It emotionally drains you and when its finished you have to beg for mercy. The reason I didn't like the movie is because it was too quick, and it was too dramatic and the story became so big it collapsed on itself. I give this film a 2 out of 4 stars.

The young director also directed 'The Conjuring', which I really enjoyed, so this forced me to think, "What didn't he do in 'Insidious', that he did in 'The Conjuring'?", James Wan made Insidious to be one big, huge scare just for scaring's sake. But he never intended for a sequel, so he and the writers had to revive something that should have died while keeping up with the pace of the first. And that's the cause for a film that will be lost to the depths of Netflix. 'The Conjuring' made sense and we were able to connect with the characters while being scared by their situation...quite a difference from being constantly attacked by violin screeches and creepy extras.

Riddick

 

The idea has always intrigued me, and Vin Diesel entertains me, but there's no doubt that the Riddick series will always be a B franchise. The movie follows Riddick still on his sun scorched planet he was left on ten years before, now he has activated an old emergency beacon bringing 2 groups of assassins from earth. We watch these groups bump heads over the thought of Riddick's head in a box, but they realize soon enough that Riddick isn't there only issue.

 

The reason I say Riddick is a B franchise(not only because it is) is because it lacks a great cast, good CGI, the necessary budget and most importantly the planet looks like the most obvious set seen in the last 20 years of film. It is exciting at parts and as far as an action hero goes, Vin Diesel delivers. Riddick gets a 2 out of 4 stars. 

The Butler

 

The Butler is a truly inspiring film that exercises the true story of Cecil Gaines, a slave turned house servant following the death of his father. As he grows, so does his want to leave the cotton farm he's grown up on. Cecil leaves in search of a new job in a new place, after years of work in a high end D.C. hotel, he finds the white house calling asking for his service in the most important home in the country.

Cecil finds himself giving more attention to the first families that come and go then his own. Combined with the danger his son is in while fighting for African American rights, Cecil Gaines( Forest Whitaker) has lost sight of what he might believe. I give the butler 3 and 1/2 out of 4 stars. The whole cast showed how versatile and entrenched each became in their characters. Although my only criticism is the way the film presented himself, it was emotional and true to its roots, but I will say that I feel I didn't connect with whitaker's character the way I wanted to. Not to Forest Whitaker's blame, but to that of the story, I felt the movie was less connected to the characters and more to the civil rights movement, but this is just me being picky.