jrjasonrussell

It's hard to review this film because on many levels it's excellent. The first 60 or so minutes is suspense and intrigue, wonder and pure movie magic of film making excellence. I as fan of these types of films was hooked and entertained for nearly 90 minutes.

The film instantly gets the viewer intrigued the main characters are believable and interesting. There are a number of fantastic set pieces mostly in the first hour. For instance the slow revil of the UFO stalking in the clouds showing just a glimpse before disappearing back in the clouds just like the shark from jaws just showing it's fin is pure excellent movie magic added with fantastic sound.

The story is engaging the cinmetoghy sound is outrageously good. The back story with the monkey is horrifying, Michael Wincott is seriously underrated and underused but that's 90 minutes in.

Like x files the TV series which worked best on intrigue once the director or writer displays his hand and decided to display his hand the film weirdly gones down hill from A ratted classic b movie magic like jaws or the thing which both manage to maintain the suspension for the entire runtime into something entirely less interesting and this film borrowed ideas from jaws, close encounters to even the Blair witch project to strangers but only managed to borrow the best bits and pump them into the first hour and half.

By the time the third act happens and the credits roll i as a movie watcher asked was that it?, really that was the best ending and monster you could come up with Jordan pelle in the final last leg.

I read an article online about this TV movie and I was aware it exists before I watched, the subject matter interested me. But be warned this film is bleak and disturbing to the point you've wondering at the half way mark should you turn it off to avoid possible nightmares.

There is a horrific portrail of nuclear blasts at the half way point putting images in front of you which the normal individual will only want to see once, it's told in a very intelligent manner considering the TV budget there is a voice over which explains to some degree documentary style the actual effects of nuclear war which even a simple person like me thoughly got and it's bleak people so you have be warned.

What this TV movie gets over with a very well acted cast is the absolute horror of a situation and effects if people in power decided to press that red button and these terrible weapons land on cities.

This movie should not be watched if your have had a bad day it should be watched though to fully understand the absolute folly of using these weapons and understanding in a educational purpose the dire consequences of their use.

I've rated this a 9 and normally when I give something a good rating it's based on rewatch ability.

But as well as this film is informative and well acted I'm not sure I can sit through this again it is disturbing and a little close to events now.

Before i went and watched the second outing i watched the first original cult movie the night before so it was fresh in my mind, its on streaming here in the U. K readily available, i enjoyed it as its fun quirky original piece of movie magic and the film was a huge hit in 1988 it was also a lot shorter in runtime than i remembered with next to no fat on the bone and i highly suggest if you haven't seen in a while to re-watch before seeing the second film.

So fast forward yes 36 years later and not counting the fun child friendly animated series we get a direct sequel in 2024 baring in mind the perfect time to have had a sequel would of been after the animated series ended which was also some thirty years ago. So the new trend in Hollywood seems to be direct sequels to box office hits from that decade, yes goonies sequel just green-lit.

So to my review is kind of half good half bad, Tim Burton directs with his usual dark comedic flare. The tone sets costumes practical gore effects are good and feel like a direct continuation from the first film. Michael Keaton just steals every scene, Winona Ryder and Catherine O'Hara pick up the old roles with ease. The music is also great especially that opening shot and the musical number on the train.

So the bad a lot of fun and light comedy is missing here, i will warn you, if you are taking young children to see this movie the body horror and some of the horror effects and language push the film from child friendly to borderline on the next rating yes i am aware of the original rating of the first film but that was a long time ago.

I always felt the appeal of the first film was its light take on the afterlife. This film really needed some type of grounded couple like Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin instead we get a lot of secondary plot lines and cast that are criminally underused. There are actually a lot of plots going on here and secondary characters that make the fairly short run time seem overindulgent and unnecessary i came out the cinema thinking i watched a 2 hour plus movie that should of ended twenty minutes before the credits. My final verdict no Top gun maverick more of a scream 2 sequel.