Internet Janitor
The first thought that pops to mind after seeing Black Phone 2 is simply… Why? The original was fine enough, it was a story which a beginning, middle and end and should have stayed that way if they didn’t have a good enough idea to continue it. Better yet, not everything needs a sequel, but it made money, so here we are. So, heavily leaning on themes from A Nightmare on Elm Street for Dummies edition, we have The Grabber (still a goofy name) attacking people in their dreams.
Some time after the events of the first film, The Grabber (played by Ethan Hawke again, but it does not sound or look like him, so they could have used anyone) is back and haunting Finn (played by Mason Thames from The Black Phone) and his sister in their dreams. Through a series of convoluted reasons, they end up at a green screen environment that is supposed to be a religious camp, not cluing in at any point in their journey that the once-in-a-century storm would impact their trip.
Black Phone 2 is a shining example of how not to open a movie. We start with a really bad green screen that in no way looks even remotely real. Why take such a big swing on such a large green screen when it wasn’t possible to do it properly? Next, we meet our hero from the original, attempting to fracture another kid’s skull in a fight or just outright kill him because his feelings were hurt. This is the hero, a sulking, brooding and violent kid. He’s been through hell, yes, no one expects him to be happy sunshine fun time, but this was a bad introduction.
When it comes to A Nightmare on Elm Street, I was never a huge fan when they went the full-on comedy horror route. However. Freddy Kruguer was still a menacing figure; he got shit done. The Grabber here is in no way menacing. It’s clear his goal is revenge on Finn for his death in the first movie, and we see he does still have the power to kill. He just seems so useless, fails at the very outset and comes across as anemic. His new demise is more of a “Shit, we need to end this thing, fast”.
And Ethan Hawke, way to go on the easy paycheck. The Grabber isn’t in it a lot, and unless someone told you, you wouldn’t even know it was him. It is some dedication for a paycheck to go for the easy money.
Sadly, this one made more money than the first, so we’ll get another, I’m sure of it.