The Nun 2 Review: Interesting Appetizer To The Warrens’ Next Great Adventure
Cast: Taissa Farmiga, Jonas Bloquet, Storm Reid, Anna Popplewell, Bonnie Aarons, Katelyn Rose Downey
Director: Michael Chaves
Filmyhype.com Ratings: 3/5 (three stars) [yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]
One of the most anticipated horror movie The Nun II (The Nun 2) finally landed in theaters. That of The Conjuring is now a real shared universe, with almost a dozen films under its belt including films from the main series and spin-offs which over the years have increasingly expanded its mythology. A sort of expanded mythology has been created around the Warrens’ investigations into the occult, connected to the many cases of possession that the two iconic protagonists faced during their long careers. In 2018, among others, The Nun was released, which delved into the story linked to the disturbing demonic nun who appears during the second chapter of Conjuring. And now, 5 years later and approximately 24 months after the release of the third official chapter of the saga, The Nun 2 arrives, a sequel that does not differ an inch from the formula of its predecessor, and which therefore proves to be a spin-off of pleasant entertainment. But nothing more, because it remains extremely conservative.
The Nun 2 Review: The Story Plot
The story is a direct sequel to the events of the first The Nun. And so, from Romania, we move to France at the end of the fifties, and we review some of the protagonists who waged the first historic battle with The Nun. For those who do not remember, the French-Canadian Maurice who had remained involved in the events of the possessions at the monastery of Carta had contributed to defeating the demon, at the cost of becoming (unknowingly) a new potential recipient for the creature, as testified by the inverted cross branded on the nape of his neck.
A few years later, right in the vicinity of Maurice, other mysterious and macabre events occur and this time the ones who pay the price are a girls’ boarding school populated by very young girls, little more than children in reality, who between one prank and another begin to witness the first and tragic supernatural facts. And so, Sister Irene Palmer informed about the Devil’s new moves, sets off again to face her Nun again, this time trying to trace the true origins of the monster to defeat him once and for all. On a narrative level, as previously mentioned, The Nun 2 confirms itself as an all-round heir to the film that preceded it, while still opening up to a new fan base thanks to the new setting and the semi-independent nature of the story, which manages to provide all the necessary information on the previous story if you haven’t seen the first chapter.
The Nun 2 Review and Analysis
However, we are talking about a product that is extremely linked to the franchise of which it is part, and in this sense, the references to the parent saga will only arouse the curiosity of the public, given the future of the brand. There remains a plot, that of The Nun 2, which does what it has to do without trying too hard, with a structure that follows the classic tracks of esoteric horror – disappearances and terrible deaths in the first act, the investigation in the second, the final battle with the demon in the third – with a cast that includes already well-known faces such as Taissa Farmiga and Jonas Bloquet, to which is added some new entries such as Storm Reid (Gia from Euphoria ) and Anna Popplewell (we remember her above all for the character of Susan in The Chronicles of Narnia !). Both the script and the protagonists are unfortunately not the strong point of The Nun 2, which also follows the path traced by the first episode: on balance, in terms of history and faces, The Nun, unfortunately, remains the least memorable spin-off of the whole saga, with a writing that no longer strives to characterize more the characters as much or to delve sufficiently into the “mythology” behind the main events. It is therefore a film that mainly relies on visual solutions, and on the effective direction of Michael Chaves – who had already directed La Llorona and the first Conjuring.
On an aesthetic level, The Nun 2 works, between camera cuts consistent with the horror atmospheres and frequent jump scares that embellish the lugubrious tones of the production. It doesn’t always push enough on the horrific framework, and, on balance, we hoped to “scare” us more, but overall, we are satisfied with how the religious framework is exploited to stage the clash with the Devil. Perhaps it is precisely about the artistic direction that this second chapter stands up and fits coherently into The Conjuring franchise while preferring to focus on situations already seen without revolutionizing its basic formula too much. This time altar boys and college-aged girls are the favorite victims of this manifestation of Evil, which remains in the shadows more than common sense or balance would advise.
A choice that follows the commendable intention of giving more prominence to the different narrative lines that intertwine on the screen (but it would have been enough to simplify the existing ones, especially the ‘family’ one of the Frenchman, Anna Popplewell’s Kate and Rose Downey’s little Sophie), but which in the long run makes the most awaited protagonist miss (which the director himself seems to hint at we could find in the next The Conjuring: Last Rites). One of the several goals suffered by the film which, after a promising and intriguing start, seems to rely more on the formal care of the packaging and an unusual attention to the visual aspect (almost glossy) and of the locations than on the balanced management of behaviors and actions. Above all those of interpreters tending to excess or not very convincing (none excluded), in the first case, and those of particularly inattentive and harmless demons.
A shame, given that in the “lot of fun stuff” promised by the honest Chaves, there is no shortage of worthy scenes, from the interesting idea of disguising the necessary explanation ‘for those who haven’t seen the previous episodes’ from legend to the scenes of the battle aspergillum or the street newsstand chosen by Valak to reveal himself. Refreshing and illusory moments in a long struggle with the meaning of certain choices and the unmotivated tears of an all too imaginative and forced backstory. This increases the regret for the failed attempt to do something more than usual, focusing on dreams and visions – not very thriller and threatening – rather than the usual apparitions or abuse of jumps care.
The ball thus passes to Michael Chaves, already wanted by James Wan behind the camera of La Llorona and The Conjuring 3, not too convincing as chapters of this expanded horror cinematic universe, who has the task of trying to adjust the shot and take a more propitious route. In part it succeeds, but not completely. This is because The Nun 2 finally offers a plot that has a beginning, a development, and an end, trying to truly tell the origin story of the demonic nun and above all her everlasting relationship with the other side of the coin, in this case Santa Lucia protector of the blind. “Seeing is believing,” says a proverb whose origins are in the Holy Scriptures, and this film seems to focus precisely on this aspect and the ambivalent one of religious faith, which can lean towards both Good and the forces of Evil, just like a hero.
A double protagonist: on one side Sister Irene, and on the other Valak, both presented and depicted as nuns. Sister Irene becomes a sort of final girl in the horror tradition, a survivor through a miracle after her first encounter with the demon, and who now suffers from PTSD. She would no longer want to have anything to do with that pure and polluting Evil, like a virus, yet she is forced to come face to face with it due to a new series of suspicious deaths within the Church, this time in France. It will be the Vatican itself that will tell her “We will need another miracle, sister”, as if it were something we could draw from when needed, making it a practical and therefore replicable act, almost as if we were in a supernatural procedural (just like the third and little appreciated for this reason chapter of The Conjuring), rather than an act of trust in something bigger than us and consequently unique.
Michael Chaves chooses to use the camera in a not-too-inspired way, sometimes drawing on stylistic elements seen and revisited in the genre – The entire initial scene, is not very incisive, with the ball rolling back and forth from the darkness of a room, making us guess the presence of someone – sometimes becoming more creative and interesting – the sequence set in the alley starring the young Farmiga and the hanging magazines that continue to leaf through showing The Nun‘s face, or the one in the corridor that deliberately mentions the second The Conjuring. The jump scare moments are inevitable, some more successful, others decidedly less so. More cohesive and coherent, the film does not weigh on the audience the two hours of duration but would still have benefited from twenty minutes less to streamline the story and the pace.
Furthermore, The Nun 2 has a very clear central story it wants to tell but gets lost in the tentacles mentioned at the beginning, in this case, internal to the feature film. Too many side characters whose storylines often remain a little too accessory, such as that of Sister Irene’s partner in crime nun played by Storm Reid, or mother and daughter Maurice (another rediscovered from the first chapter, the Belgian actor Jonas Bloquet) approaches the boarding school for young girls in which this sequel is set. Again, a gathering place for women – after the convent of The Nun – The vocation of evil- which represents the centrality and duality of original sin that expands. Furthermore, despite wanting to summarize important narrative points of the first film for the most distracted spectators and for whom too many years have passed since the previous episode through some dialogues and flashbacks, it ends up getting lost in “explanations” that are a little too long and redundant. of an opportunity. Taissa Farmiga confirms that she embodies the dual nature of her character well and that she can carry this sequel better than the previous one on her shoulders, that she is its true beating heart, especially in the more emotional sequences that focus on her close-ups, but unfortunately, it’s not enough.
The Nun 2 Review: The Last Words
The Nun 2 is a sequel that dares very little, preferring to focus on an already tested formula, with a functional but far from revolutionary narrative structure. What makes the difference are the atmospheres and the direction of Chaves, although we would have expected them to scare us even more net of a religious setting that always proves to be very suggestive. A title that, while waiting for the fourth chapter of The Conjuring, entertains the right and provides an interesting appetizer to the next great adventure of the Warren spouses. One of the various goals suffered by the film which, after a promising and intriguing start, seems to rely more on the formal care of the packaging and an unusual attention to the visual aspect (almost glossy) and the locations than on the balanced management of behaviors and actions. Especially those of interpreters tending towards excess or unconvincing (no one excluded), in the first case, and those of particularly distracted and harmless demons.
The Nun 2 Review: Interesting Appetizer To The Warrens' Next Great Adventure - Filmyhype
Director: Michael Chaves
Date Created: 2023-09-06 19:49
3
Pros
- The plot is finally present and makes sense in Valak's origin story.
- Taissa Farmiga is confirmed as the heart of this spin-off saga.
- Some creative finds.
Cons
- The direction by Michael Chavez, too indebted to the precedents of the genre.
- Too many secondary characters, with less incisive characterization, and related narrative arcs.
- The summary of the previous installments slips easily into explanations.
