Review: The Conjuring 2

The Conjuring 2
Cert: 15 / 134 mins / Dir. James Wan / Trailer



"I don't know what's worse," Franka Potente's sceptical parapsychologist Anita opines in a moment of second-act downtime, "the demons, or the people who prey on our willingness to believe in them". It's a brief moment when James Wan's horror threequel lays itself bare, and the more cynical viewers in the audience will raise an eyebrow and mouth a silent "...well, quite". Like so many other movies in its genre, The Conjuring 2's dramatic impact relies almost entirely on the unwavering belief of its audience; not least because the opening titles feature those dreaded words 'based on the true story'*¹...

So, based on the already well-documented case of The Enfield Poltergeist, psychic investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren cross the Atlantic at the request of the church to try and uncover the truth (if any) about mysterious happenings in north London*² (represented in its 1977 era by a wardrobe of man-made fibres, a desaturated colour palette and afternoon showings of The Goodies*³).

On the plus side, the film works in a purely nuts-and-bolts way, aided massively by the performances of Vera Farmiga and the younger members of the cast. James Wan makes a solid job of expanding the relationship between Ed and Lorraine Warren, and there are some nicely un-nerving moments in the first half hour. But these are all achieved by actual acting, rather than the jump-scares and general silliness which the screenplay then autopilots into. Because if there's any real tension at all, it only comes when the soundtrack drops to the point where you can hear the faint hiss of the auditorium speakers, and you involuntarily start counting the heartbeats to the inevitable BANG.

As much as Wan clearly enjoys playing in Seventies London, he can't resist the urge to fall back on his tried and tested tricks. With its multi-layered possession, haunting of people (rather than places, exclusively) and a box-ticking goodie-bag of spectral tropes, the film is arguably more a spiritual sequel to Insidious 2 than it is The Conjuring (and certainly feels more in keeping than Insidious 3).

The Conjuring 2 has some interesting facets and is far from a bad movie, but it's still a worryingly generic addition from someone who can and should give us better. In much the same way as the upcoming Independence Day and Central Intelligence flicks will contribute to sci-fi and comedy respectively, this film is fine for a mainstream audience, but there'll be little here for the hardened genre-fiend…

Oh, the others.
Not The Others, I just mean other films like this.
Basically anything with James Wan's name on the front, for a start.



Only if you want your jump-shot especially loud.



I suppose it probably does, to be fair.



Not particularly.
(although again, massive props to the younger members of the cast for taking the silliness so seriously)



Probably not.



Definitely not.



Level 1: The Conjuring 2 features the voice-work of Robin Atkin Downes, who's also worked on Star Wars Rebels, Clone Wars, Star Tours, Empire At War, KOTOR, KOTOR 2, The Old Republic, Rogue Squadron 3, Bounty Hunter… oh he's connected, alright.





*¹ Which, as in the majority of these cases, appears to mean "it's true that someone once told this story". Although this retelling even takes artistic licence with that.

*² And it's good to see that the Warrens spring into action a full minute and a half after people start screaming immediately outside of the room they're sleeping in, ostensibly to be 'on hand' should anything go awry in the night...

*³ UK TV historians, please help me out on this one. I was only four in 1977, but I don't remember The Goodies being repeated in the afternoon. There were only three channels back then, and broadcast 'real estate' was a bit more precious at least. I don't even know why this slightly anachronistic point should bother me so much when the rest of the film is clearly ficitious, then again I'm not the one plastering the words "true story" over the top of it to put bums on seats. To be honest, the most alarming thing I noticed was the apparently TARDIS-like disparity between the external and internal shots of the house.


DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organisations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.

Review: Sing Street

Sing Street
Cert: 12A / 106 mins / Dir. John Carney / Trailer



Now, usually when I read the words "feel good" or "life affirming" on a poster it gets my back right up, actually making me take against a film before I've even sat down to watch it. And although the promo-material for Sing Street does indeed have this, I actually saw the trailer first, so I'd already been reeled in by that point. The short version is that this film is feel-good and is life-affirming. And if an old cynic like me can enjoy those things, it must be doing something right.

Set in Dublin in 1985, the film follows Conor, a shy and insecure 15yr old moved to a rougher school than he's used to during his parents' separation. Feeling adrift, he forms a band with fellow geek Eamon in an attempt to impress a girl, Raphina, who hangs around outside the school gates. The story then charts the bands's progress over the course of a year as they write and record songs and shoot videos, leading up to a gig at the end-of-term disco, where maybe… just maybe Conor can get the girl...

You're right, it sounds insufferably twee, but while many words will be written comparing Sing Street to other films set against the same template (it's an unashamed hybrid of School of Rock and The Commitments), this film has more in common with coming-of-age tales than musical flicks (although it's not a 'musical'). It also stands to the film's credit that so many original songs are in its soundtrack, and the band's compositions far outshine the period-tracks. The music in this film is a catalyst, almost a character in its own right, rather than just a device to sell retro compilation albums.

The main credit has to go to an amazing cast, headed up by Ferdia Walsh-Peelo and Lucy Boynton as Conor and Raphina respectively. But while they're certainly the focus of the story, the rest of the band get their moments to shine, and it warms my heart to see a bunch of kids playing on-screen that can clearly play their instruments properly. And although the story cruises towards its 'prom night' ending, it deftly avoids almost every music-film-cliche along the way*¹, and ends with more confidence and optimism than it began, but still a note of uncertainty.

Sing Street probably isn't a perfect film, but it's perfect to me. I laughed, I cried, I came home and bought the soundtrack. It represents that time in our lives when hope outweighed experience and creating the good things was more important to us than staving off the bad. Quite often, you don't realise you were having an adventure until after the dust has settled. Sing Street is that adventure.

God, I'm middle-aged.

Anyway, film of the year. There, I said it.

The Way, Way Back, Perks of Being A Wallflower.



You should watch this as soon as you can.



It does.



Well it's certainly better than John Carney's previous musical outing, yeah.



Probably not.



There isn't.



Level 2: Well, Jack Reynor's in this and he was almost Han Solo, but let's go for an actual link in saying that Aiden Gillen's in this too, and he's in that Game Of Thrones along with Gwendoline 'Phasma' Christie (among others).





*¹ Although the mysteriously-unexplained points range from 1) How come a school strict enough to enforce a black-shoe policy lets the same kids swan in with powder-blue 'New Romantic' jackets a couple of months later, to 2) We see the kids storyboarding and recording their music videos on a VHS-camera, but what equipment are they using to edit them together? This is meant to be a hard-up neighbourhood, and of course 3) As great as it is to see the band rehearsing in the living room (and actually playing their instruments as previously noted), they've got a live drum-kit in there and nowhere near the amplification for everything else to keep up with it. Oh, and 4) Conor's older, worldly-wise, art-school-dropout brother playfully disdains Phil Collins as being un-cool, but in the same act gushes over 'Gold' era Spandau Ballet and Hall & Oates. Y'know, like no-one else, ever. Although points like these didn't de-rail the film one iota for me, somehow.

DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organisations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.