Movie Review: Oh, Sister, What Happened? 'The Nun II' Is A Faceplant Horror Splat
This fall, The Conjuring universe celebrates its 10th anniversary with the boring The Nun 2, a film that seems destined to put the nail in the coffin of the series' undeath.
The new team of directors and writers fails to surprise or intimidate with a colorful plot and slow, twisting horror. Some viewers turned on their phones during the recent preview, which is a bad sign for those expecting an immersive experience.
The highest-grossing film in the series grossing over $366 million worldwide, The Nun Part 2 was never one to turn down, and the sequel adheres closely to its previous success. One could even say that it is a better precedent.
This time it's 1956, four years after the events of The Nun, and the devil is once again stalking Europe. This is the same terrible Balak whom we met for the last time and who, we believe, is not dead, although stained with the blood of Christ. We are told: “The devil lives”.
Returning are Taissa Farmiga, the younger sister of The Conjuring star Vera Farmiga, as the wide-eyed sister Irene, and Jonas Blocht as Maurice, the charming French-Canadian hero. The filmmakers attempt to tell us more about Sister Irene's journey (mostly flashbacks to her mother), but they offer little.
New this time around is Storm Reid as a skeptic, smoking hot newcomer who doesn't really believe the water-in-wine story. She is well presented and seems well suited to the role of the devoted nun Sister Irene, but she is quickly abandoned and does not have enough time to come to Jesus.
Written by Ian Goldberg, Richard Naing and Akilah Cooper, the film takes place at a boarding school in the south of France, where Maurice tries to start a new life with love, but a terrible secret threatens his happiness. The characters are thin and there's a lot of filler, but the old towns found in the location section are very eerie and disturbing. The fatal flaw is that Sister Irene gets lost in her own film.
Director Michael Chavez, who also directed The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, notes some great moments: the possessed newsstand where all the pages of a magazine are flipped frantically is incredible, but mostly it's the same light bulbs electric and the same heavy steps. Things. Wait to jump, jump, wait, repeat.
“The Nun II” mimics the structure of its predecessor, as our heroine must find a powerful relic to defeat a demon, possibly Satan, who resembles a goat, but is strangely thwarted by a powerful wooden door. As Sister Irene searches the ancient Vatican archives for clues, it looks like Dan Brown.
Is it just a coincidence that this year was also a bad year for Insidious? Every Patrick Wilson low-budget horror franchise needs a good surprise. Or CPR paddles.
The Nun 2, produced by Warner Bros. Images, rated R for “violent content and some gore”. Duration: 110 minutes. One star out of four.
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Definition of AMP R: Limited. Children under 17 must be accompanied by a parent or adult guardian.
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Online: https://www.warnerbros.com/movies/nun
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Mark Kennedy is at http://twitter.com/KennedyTwits.
