La Monja II

So, I was actually quite looking forward to this one. I wasn't expecting much from the original since sequels, prequel's and spinoffs often times are not up to par with their predecessors. However, I was quite pleasantly surprised with the first Nun and still think that it is a wildly underrated horror. So, after viewing this one, I must say that I was pretty disappointed. It was not a bad film by any means, but it did not live up to the quality of the first one and really landed in a very mediocre place.

It had a quick start and didn't waste any time, throwing us into the action. Yet, even then, I stopped and thought "well, that could've been cooler ". This same sentiment persisted throughout the majority of the film. It gave us some fun and creepiness, but then proceeded to move at a snails pace for quite some time. It felt like we were about 45 minutes in until I got any semblance of a real story line or something particularly intriguing. It really felt like they were going through the motions, an outline for a horror movie. As if they were following a map with very similar chain of events as the original.

It is no secret that this franchise loves a jump scare. The first one was full of them, however, it was also balanced out by genuinely creepy and cool effects with a general effective spook factor. This one had a bit of that, but was mostly just riddled with cheap, unnecessary and superfluous jump scares. Even most of the kills, while still entertaining, were pretty basic. At the same time there were also some effective imagery especially in the third act, some gnarly effects, and some pretty awesome stunts that stuck out.

I think my biggest issue with this is that the first one felt very deliberate and purposeful in many ways. It felt planned out and detailed... whereas this one felt like it was thrown together with the very bare minimum they could get away with as far as storyline went. Again, not a bad film, but nowhere near the quality of the first one for me. Would recommend, but not vehemently.

(Also, what's up with all these fake reviews? Weird. Lol)

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In my opinion, the character "The Nun a.k.a (Valak)" was best portrayed in the movie "The Conjuring 2". I didn't like its first solo movie. The atmosphere wasn't bad, but I didn't like it anyway. I didn't like the second movie either. It could be better. In terms of atmosphere, it wasn't as good as the first movie. The plot of the movie was poor. There ara lots of horror movie clichés. There were many jump-scare scenes. I thought it was out of fashion nowadays, but they used it too much in this movie. This spoils the viewing pleasure. There were a few scenes that I liked very much. Even though it was a jump-scare scene, I liked the goat scene. The acting was good, of course, but the weak script. BTW Bonnie Aarons was great again.

I think I need to shift my perspective on what The Nun movies are supposed to be. The Conjuring films are great, full of scares, great writing. Annabelle is also pretty freaky. The Nun... feels more like Indiana Jones or a Disneyworld ride. Made-for-amusement-park action, props, and themes. Each time I go in expecting to be freaked out by "the greatest evil in the Conjuring Universe" just to walk away feeling like I went through a haunted house at Six Flags. The Nun II was not scary, barely interesting, and quite honestly boring at times. Conjuring Universe I love you, but let's send the Nun back to hell for good.

My dedication to the horror genre leads me to seeing a lot of films at the cinema that I fully expect to be rubbish. Like the Nun II, which I had very little real interest in watching since I couldn't remember much about the first one, other than the fact that I didn't like it. And for a long time, the film is just as bland and generic as I had imagined it would be, director Michael Chaves taking matters far too seriously, with a dreary pace, gloomy cinematography and all of the religious horror clichés he can cram in.

Then, just as I was about to give up all hope of being entertained, Chaves seems to remember that, hey, horror films can be fun! After the introduction of a demonic goat (Satan himself?), the film really picks up, with action, excitement, and a few well-crafted scares (I think I actually jumped a couple of times, but that was probably down to the extremely loud noises that accompany the jumpy bits). If only there had been some of this liveliness during the earlier parts of the film - The Nun II could have been really good instead of just okay.

My rating: 6/10.

Given that The Nun (2018) was nothing more than a polished-looking series of loud noises and nonsensical happenings, I was not looking forward to the sequel.

And even though The Nun II has its share of cheap scares and a few unintentionally funny moments, I was shocked by how much better it is than the first film.

Flashes of greatness are seen here-more often than not it's directed with considerable skill and far more restraint than the first movie was. It's quieter and more patient at first, fleshing out its characters before things get insane in the third act.

As for these character dynamics, they're actually interesting this time around. The dialogue is sometimes cheesy, but there's a sincerity to the humans in this story that gives a gripping quality to the film's perilous moments.

There's certainly quite a bit of bad to be found here, but I actually liked more of this than I didn't. Hopefully these movies will get back to being good.