Review – Halloween

There seemed to be a lot of hype around David Gordon Green’s Halloween and I don’t understand why.  It wasn’t like this was the first movie where Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) came back and fought Mike Myers or the first sequel in the franchise.  I don’t remember anyone getting this excited for Rob Zombie’s remake, nor the sequel.  Was it because people were excited for another David Gordon Green project?  Or maybe a Danny McBride co-written screenplay?  Doubtful.  Halloween is just another sequel to John Carpenter’s 1978 classic and plays like it too.  There is nothing new or original here, just same ol’ Mike Myers doing Mike Myers things.

This film takes place forty years after the events of the first film happened and is being called the direct sequel to the original film.  So forget the seven sequels that have come out over the last four decades, they don’t matter.  This time around, Michael Myers has been in a high-security prison for forty years, being studied by numerous doctors and about to be transferred to an even higher security prison for the rest of this life.  During his transfer, the bus that he and a number of other criminals are on flips over, freeing everyone on board.  Michael then goes on a murderous rampage.

Sounds familiar, right?  Well get ready, because this time, Laurie, who has become a recluse of sorts in paranoia of Michael’s return, is ready to face the person who tried to kill her forty years ago.

Wait, that already happened?  In H20 and Resurrection?  Oh.

Okay, but in this one, we get to meet Laurie’s family, none of whom believe her and think she’s a nut job when it comes to her paranoia and preparation for Michael.  No?  That happened too?

And I’m sure Michael and Laurie have some sort of showdown as well in this one, huh?

Oh, they do?  Hmm.

And Michael just kills anyone at random because he is the living, breathing version of evil?  Of course.

Honestly, this Halloween is exactly like every other Halloween sequel.  We’ve seen every single beat before and we know what is coming.  If you liked the other sequels, you’ll like this.  If you didn’t, you won’t.  There is a decent amount of killing, a recycled plot, and a bunch of nameless, useless characters, except for Jibrail Nantambu as Julian, the kid one of our ill-fated babysitters is babysitting, who steals the movie and deserves his own sequel.  The excessive hype around this movie is completely unwarranted and it is the reason this movie is making so much money and will probably get a sequel.  This is just another Halloween sequel, and a mediocre one at that.