nickryan-44535

After a consistent let down of various sequels, many of which being horror movies, Smile 2 feels like a needle in a haystack. So many sequels, reboots, and horror movies that just miss the mark but when the trailer for this movie was released I was intrigued. This first movie was pretty good so I decided to check this one out and it exceeded my expectations.

I didn't love the first movie because I didn't connect to the performance of the lead actor as much, however, the lead in this film was excellent!! I am a horror fan so I tend to be hard on these films and I truly enjoyed this film. This film is more fun, more shocking, and more gruesome than the 1st. It is definitely worth a watch.

I quite enjoy this franchise including this entry. However, my biggest complaint with all of them this one in particular is that while the acting is always great the plot is lackluster. In a film that is 95% whispers or no talking at all extra tension, extra character development, and extra fleshed out story is necessary to make up for the lack of verbal communication. I don't necessarily need a long spoken monologue but something throughout the movie that grabs our attention as audience members.

With this potentially being the final movie in a trilogy and a prequel we needed something fresh. These movies have the exact same formula, the protagonist is introduced with minimal backstory the monsters attack, the protagonist and their counterpart run around in different area trying to be quite and then someone dies. We don't need the exact some formula for every movie. They could've at least explained or theorized how these monsters arrived or introduced some new element we've never seen before. I was actually confused at the end because it felt like we were just entering act 2 when Lupita started wondering the streets of New York freely and then it cut to the credits and I felt like I had missed something. This is basically Quite Place 1 with two new characters and a cat. Not bad at all but nothing special.

This is already the best movie of 2024 (so far). It is a story of a love triangle based around the sport of tennis. The movie is quite fast paced with a wicked score that builds the tension in every scene it is used in. It is well shot with some excellent pov shots of various tennis matches that allows the audience to feel the intensity of the sport. The actors all shine equally with each one bringing a different aspect to the story. It does get quite steamy, more so than I was expecting (they do show partial and full frontal nudity). If you are coming for the romantic sensual aspects shown in the trailer then you won't be disappointed.

The only downside to this film is the timeline, the film has various back and forth time jumps that can be confusing. Over all it is worth a watch in the cinema.