By Ben Bright
@BrightFilmWorks
Salutations!
I am currently relishing in October, my Christmas season. And horror is my weakness genre. I am not saying that I am all about horror, I love all movies from French New Wave to grindhouse but horror is one of the things that I totally gravitate to (and I also have a weakness for rom-coms but don’t tell anyone that. That’ll be our little secret. I can watch 13 Going on 30 all day!)
This has been a great year for horror. The First Omen, Immaculate (which I have softened on after a second viewing), In a Violent Nature, and Late Night with The Devil. But no year can bat 100% for horror films and some crap comes out. Smile 2 is one that that missed the mark and is an example of how sometimes, lightning doesn’t strike the same spot twice.
I really enjoyed the first one, but this was a bit of a letdown.
Before I continue my review, I will have to provide some context from the first movie. If you haven’t seen the first one, this is what you need to know.
In the movie Smile, the framework is of a malevolent entity of whatever sort, that possesses an individual and over time, develops a diabolical smile that proceeds to commit suicide shortly after. Whoever is the unfortunate soul who witnesses the suicide has the curse projected upon to them and the cycle renews from person to person.
The movie starts 6 days after the first movie. The curse is transmitted.
The story focuses on a pop singer, Skye Riley played by Naomi Scott (Charlie’s Angels, Aladdin) a down on her luck about to start on her comeback tour after a year of being down on her luck for a year after a devastating accident. She proceeds to receive the curse from another individual with an eerie smile.
The situation devolves into madness and chaos affecting her and others in her orbit, hindering her comeback tour. The picture is painted as the pop singer’s descent into madness and hallucinations with a shocking ending.
I went in with intrigue and excitement about how it would be. I really liked the first Smile film and was looking forward to seeing the next installment. What I got was a lot of hot garbage. I am sorry but I cannot be kind to this movie aside from a couple of scenes which I will go into soon.
First, the characters are not likable and I as the viewer had no connection to them. They are self-absorbed people in the music industry or its periphery who only care about their own self-interests, including our protagonist. She is unlikable and only cares about her comeback even more as her life begins to deteriorate due to being cursed. Her mother Rosemarie Dewitt(The Boys, La La Land) is an unlikeable “stage parent” living off her daughter as her manager, her friend played by Raul Castro(Wrath of Man, Knives Out) only wants her for her status to boost his charity, and her personal assistant, while loyal, comes across as an emasculated weakling who’s devotion is not reciprocated but simply stepped on and taken for granted throughout the film.
The only likable character is Skye’s estranged best friend, Gemma, played by Dylan Gelula (Dream Scenario, I Want You Back) who is loyal and caring after they make amends.
As far as cinematography goes, there is some overuse of upside-down drone shots and some unnecessary Dutch angles, which I do love, that prove to be ineffective and gratuitous. There several poorly executed handheld tracking shots as well that didn’t feel like they belonged.
Also, as jump scares go, there are a couple of good ones out of the many but otherwise, they don’t hit as they should
But on a positive note, there were a few positives.
There is an outstanding hallucination scene relating to her madness as well as a speech given where she speaks in an unhinged manner to a crowd.
And I will give credit, credits due. The final ten minutes are quite good, and the final scene is pretty kickass! It cuts to the credits and leads one to wonder what will happen after the fact.
Positives aside, I don’t believe that this was a well-executed film. The writer/filmmaker waited way too long for any type of exposition and if someone in the audience had not seen the previous installment, they would have been confused as hell.
installment, they would have been confused as hell. I went in excited and left feeling let down. This felt like a missed opportunity, and it shows. No clarity, no characters that you care about, and outside of a few positives, it was a prattling mess with an awesome finale that was almost like it was tacked on(I did love the final ten minutes).
In the end, though, it was quite a letdown, and I suggest that you wait until it is streaming or renting on blu-ray somewhere. It was an unnecessary sequel to a good movie that was self-contained.
In the end, my advice is that when you have something good that stands on its own, take the win and use your talents to make something new and quit while you are ahead.
(From myself to the reader, suicide is a serious matter. To any person reading this and is considering taking your own life, please do seek help from loved ones and/or a professional or call a suicide hotline being 800-273-8255 or simply dial 988. Remember that you are
