Reviews

Pros: 1. David Howard Thornton puts on another masterful performance as Art the Clown. His physical antics and facial expressions in particular are amazing.

2. Most of the gore is phenomenally repulsive.

3. The score does a great job at adding an eery atmosphere.

4. Lauren Lavera gives a stoic performance as the final girl and is arguably the best final girl in years.

5. The 80's soundtrack and visuals are a great love letter to 80's slashers.

Cons: 1. Some of the gore is so obviously fake that it looks a little goofy.

2. The run-time is far too long. A lot of scenes get needlessly stretched out which does lead to occasions of zoning out as the viewer.

3. Whilst the acting is generally better than the first, a lot of the acting is still quite stale.

4. The more polished cinematography actually reduces the tension as well as the dark and gritty feel that the grainy cinematography added to the first.

5. Whilst the supernatural lore is expanded upon, it still leaves you with more questions than answers: who is Sienna's father? How was Sienna brought back to life? Can Art influence dreams like Freddy Krueger and how?

Pros: 1. Ethan Hawke (The Grabber) does the best he can with such a poor script.

2. The mask The Grabber wears is pretty creepy and it's pretty much the only thing carrying the tension.

Cons: 1. There are so many irrelevant plot points that go nowhere: Finney (Mason Thames) getting bullied at school; Terrence (Jeremy Davies) being an abusive drunk; or Finney personally knowing the kids who have gone missing. They all feel like clumsy attempts at trying to force tension and care for the characters.

2. Max (James Ransone) is a completely pointless character. Nothing about the story would change if he was removed from the script.

3. The movie contains little horror outside of boring and predictable jump-scares.

4. There are moronic plot conveniences which just epitomises the lazy writing that the film suffers from: The Grabber allowing Finney to keep the same weapon he injured The Grabber with; or Max magically being deaf to The Grabber coming down the wooden stairs behind him.

5. Unsurprisingly, with the film containing a plethora of child actors, there are load of inconsistent and poor performances.

Pros: 1. The gore/ violence is gritty and raw which gives the film an uncomfortably grounded feel.

2. Despite the myopic plot, the pacing is great with non-stop action and plot progression which fills out the run-time nicely.

3. Similar to the first film, this movie beautifully pulls off a twist at the end. It also neatly ties back to the previous film.

Cons: 1. The editing is nauseating. There are so many cuts, slow-motion effects and image insertions that not only is it difficult to see what's going on at times but it's also headache-inducing.

2. The death of Jonas (Glenn Plummer) is unintentionally comical with the cartoonish sound design and vocals.

3. Eric Matthews (Donnie Wahlberg) is extremely unlikable as he's shown to be a terrible father and is later shown to be a corrupt cop.

4. Why did Eric Matthews bring Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) with him to the house but didn't take him inside?

5. The stock action score adds nothing to the film and only serves to annoy you.

Pros: 1. The film is remorseless in its sheer brutality. It offers up an uncomfortable truth about human nature.

2. The practical effects in regards to the gore are incredible.

3. Tony Goldwyn (Barry Norris) delivers an incredibly nuanced performance which helps to add depth, not just to his character, but to the story as well.

Cons: 1. How would Mike Milch (John Gallagher Jr.) know where they implanted the tracer/ bomb in his skull?

2. There are far too many characters that the film tries to focus on which leads to very little development or meaningful focus.

3. There are a load of very strange character decisions by the writers, like Wendell Dukes (John C. McGinley) playing a pervert or Marty Espenscheid (Sean Gunn) being a hippie - they add absolutely nothing to the story.

4. The editing during the death scene of Barry Norris adds an unintentional comical feel to it.

5. John Gallagher Jr. And Adria Arjona (Leandra Florez) have no chemistry together despite being the lead couple you're supposed to root for.

6. Somehow, even though they surveyed the entire building, Belko completely misses Mike Milch taking explosives with him.

7. The end reveal of the simulation being part of a simulation is utterly redundant and obviously serves to try and set up another movie.

Pros: 1. The design of M3gan (Amie Donald/ Jenna Davis) is surprisingly well-done. M3gan, particularly with her large unblinking eyes, is freaky enough to induce horror but cute enough to realistically be sold as a doll to kids.

2. The sound design for M3gan is great and it helps to remind the audience that the lifelike doll is still a doll.

3. Violet McGraw (Cady) and Amie Donald deliver fantastic performances. Their characters' bond is what helps propel the movie forward.

4. The film does a solid job at highlighting problems with modern technology, mainly our overreliance on it and how it seems to be increasingly used as a substitute for genuine human interactions.

5. The scene between M3gan and Brandon (Jack Cassidy) is quite brutal which I didn't think the film would be willing to do.

Cons: 1. Ronny Chieng (David) gives a horrendously forced performance.

2. The pacing of the first half of the film is needlessly slow which makes it difficult to initially warm to the movie.

3. Pretty much all of the characters, with the exception of perhaps Cady and Gemma (Allison Williams), are exceedingly one-dimensional and uninteresting.

4. For some strange reason, Tess (Jen Van Epps) didn't bother to ring Gemma back when she saw she'd supposedly made a phone call to Gemma that she obviously didn't make. Either the character is a bit dim, which she obviously isn't, or the writers actually thought this would increase the tension.

5. The stock horror score used in every single scene where horror is supposed to be is just annoying and actually ends up deflating said horror.

6. Somehow Cady knew how to operate Bruce to defeat M3gan even though Cady had never used him before. The whole ridiculousness, and illogical nature, of the final showdown made it very difficult to take it seriously.

Pros: 1. The score is unnerving and it helps to increase the tension by giving the film a suitably constricted feeling, which only increases as the film progresses.

2. Florence Pugh (Alice) delivers an amazing performance as she shows off her incredible range.

3. The movie is beautifully shot with the bright colour palette allowing for some stunning visuals (in addition to cementing the feeling of unnaturalness) particularly when paired with the 1950s aesthetics.

Cons: 1. Harry Styles' (Jack) acting is ridiculously inconsistent. Sometimes when he's supposed to be emotive, his vocal intonation and facial expressions are lot flatter than they should be.

2. The pacing is horrendously slow and as not much happens in the first part of the film, it really doesn't feel earned.

3. The plot is needlessly convoluted. Frank (Chris Pine) creates a fake world in order to trap women as housewives because, well, reasons. It's a lazy half-baked plot designed to push the false narrative that men oppressed women as housewives whilst manipulating and shaming the women into staying as housewives - it couldn't be more historically inaccurate if it tried.

4. Olivia Wilde (Director/ Bunny) clearly decided to cast herself so that she could turn up as the good person in the end (ironic as she imploded her real-life marriage whilst shooting this film).

5. At times, the editing is all-over-the-place with it constantly switching between shots which just leaves you with a headache.

Pros: 1. Tom Cruise (Maverick), Val Kilmer (Ice), Anthony Edwards (Goose) and Kelly McGillis (Charlie) all provide incredibly magnetic performances.

2. There is electric chemistry between Tom Cruise and Kelly McGillis, to the point where even the prolonged pauses between them sizzles with energy.

3. The jet fighter scenes are amazingly choreographed and edited masterfully to create a lot of tension and excitement.

4. The death of Goose is suitably heart-breaking particularly with the aftermath of it seeing Maverick being deeply afflicted and affected from the loss.

5. The film delivers an inspiring message of never giving up despite how tough it gets as well as highlighting the importance of learning to improve and show humility, even when you think you're the best.

6. The editing with its fast cutting helps to imbue the action scenes with more virility.

Cons: 1. The soundtrack is far too incessant.

2. Occasionally the dialogue is a little too cheesy and annoying.