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6 Pies

Reviewed by Limey

Plot Summary

Annie finds that her town and family have become obsessed with the legend of the Candyman. In order to prove the fictitious nature of the myth, she volunteers to utter his name five times.

Review

I went into this film with low, low expectations. Just last week I watched the original movie, of which I am a great fan and came out to find nought but a sequel poorly rated by both reviews and my own memory awaiting me.

Having seen it fresh, I feel that those guides have been misleading me for quite some time. For example, it catches a lot of heat for being a rehash of the previous entry and at first, I too was going to describe this as being a new frame surrounding a familiar picture due to its reuse of ideas.

However, having sat through the whole 90 minutes, it seems fairer to say that it is a new picture within a familiar frame. The pre-credits sequence links it to prior events in a believable way but after that it sets off to tell its own story, in a new location with a host of new characters with new motivations. In fact, I would say the (mortal) characters are the strongest part of the whole, adding depth and humanity.

The familiar frame is the Candyman himself, one of the weakest parts of the whole. The movie does expand upon the details of Daniel Robitaille's death and introduce the audience to different aspects of the ensuing myth surrounding that death; however the confrontations between him and Annie are almost identical to those between him and Helen, whom he appears to have forgotten all about. These sequences do hurt the film when the building tension is paid off by scenes that we have seen before.

Quotes:

Phillip Purcell: I believe in the myth, but in the fact - flesh and blood - I'm afraid not.

Spook Factor: ½ Pie

This was a tough one as it did shake me up somewhat but it was more an emotional impact related to what was happening rather than anything actually spooking or scaring me. Overall, it's fairly tame.

Antagonist: ¼ Pie

Oh dear. That's not good at all, is it? I hate to do it as I really like the Candyman and Tony Todd himself, but here he is somewhat…boring!

Story: ¾ Pie

Now that's more like it. I really enjoyed the story and took a lot from it, including the lives of all those we meet and the expanded history of Daniel Robitaille, which all comes together very nicely.

Acting: 1 Pie

Here the film really matches its predecessor, pie for pie. Every actor involved created a believable endearing character with their own strengths and weaknesses. In fact, I actually prefer Annie (Kelly Rowan) over Helen (Virginia Madsen) and for all my complaints about the usage of the Candyman in this film, Tony Todd still pulls off what is asked of him.

Directing: ¾ Pie

I was really worried when I checked out the crew list and discovered that Bill Condon was behind the camera of Candyman 2. Why? Because he is the man that directed my favourite movie of all time. Still under the belief that this film was a travesty, I was concerned about what lows he had previously sunk to. However, much to my relief, I found that he was as skilled as I already knew he would later be, with stylish shots and unusual angles all over the place. My one problem comes up later on…

Soundtrack: ½ Pie

Almost entirely rehashed from the previous film – yet, I liked it more than I did before. Personally I feel that it was better used and that the score's weaknesses had been ironed out. It gets the same Pie Rating though, due to the fact that it is a rehash.

Special Effects: ¾ Pie

A score earnt almost entirely by the ‘Mirror Death' towards the end of the picture. I'm sure others hate it, but it works for me and looks a lot better than similar effects in other features – and makes more sense, given the nature of the beast. The bee sequence lets it down somewhat.

Gore: ½ Pie

Now don't get me wrong. There is gore. This goes back to that ‘one problem' I mentioned earlier on. Bill Condon decided to show us each death directly instead of implying it through sounds. And it doesn't work. Each death quickly becomes a repeat of the one before and they're not nearly as gruesome as you imagined those in the first Candyman. Same for the flashbacks; the camera is on Robitaille's hand rather than his face, when for the better effect it should be the other way around.

Replay, Rewatch, Rewind: ½ Pie

Another that I don't see people rushing back to any time soon; however, it is closer to being a ‘mindless slasher' than the cerebral assault of the original, so it will be watched again.

Pros

An interesting story occupied by real characters with personal motivation.

Cons

The Candyman is stuck on repeat – reused lines and repetitive deaths.

Final Word

This is a movie that is far from being cinematic perfection but it doesn't deserve the flack that it so often receives. The writing is not on the wall.