The Trailer:
Director: Tom Harper
Cast: Phoebe Fox, Helen McCrory, Oaklee Pendergast & Jeremy Irvine
Synopsis: Eve Parkins (Phoebe Fox) and Jean Hogg (Helen McCrory), two school teachers, evacuate London during WWII to the Eel Marsh house.
Hmm, The Woman in Black 2:Angel of Death is a perfectly decent horror movie. It's not horrible nor is it great, it just is. And to be honest, I wasn't expecting much from it as I didn't think much of the first one. But I gave it chance anyway because sometimes sequels surprise us and surpass the first movie in overall quality. This is not the case, though, with this one and I should've known from the low ratings on Netflix (one star) and IMDb (4.9/10).
What I appreciate about the movie is the time period. As of late I've had a historical fiction addiction to WWII stories, thus was excited to see that TWiB2 (abbreviation for the unbearably long title) was set during this time. I was saddened, though, that this didn't play much of a part in the film. Or not as much as I would've liked. The war is the catalyst that sends Eve and Jean along with their students to the Eel Marsh house, but really that's about it; the war is rarely mentioned and if it is, it is only in passing. Like "Oh my God, there is a terrifying ghost and she's gonna kill us... oh and there's a war going on". The acting is excellent as well. In fact, the acting might be the best component of the movie. Phoebe Fox, who I'm not familiar with, is wonderful at playing the part of a broken woman who tries her best to always look at the bright side, even when the bright side is only a sliver of light. Helen McCrory, who I know and love from Penny Dreadful, does a fabulous job at the severe, strict leader of the group; she has that air about her that makes people feel like they must obey her. Then little Oaklee Pendergast as Edward, a child orphaned due to a bomb attack, is adorable while also deeply sad. After losing his parents, he is depressed and won't speak and is the most vulnerable to the suggestions of the ghost of Jennette Humfrye (the woman in black) and Pendergast does a good job at playing a sullen, lonely child. In fact, all of the child actors in this film are excellent at their parts though most of them are only secondary characters who don't have many lines. Oh, and Jeremy Irvine as the haunted pilot and love interest of Eve (ugh, a romance angle? I'll get to that later) is handsome and a superb actor, but really serves no purpose. Well he does serve one purpose, but I have the feeling that he was only written into the script for that one reason alone.
Now for the problems, and let tell you they are plentiful. No character development. Oh how a movie can suffer without proper character development and TWiB2 is a perfect example. Because of a lack of character development, or more texture added to them other than their tragic experiences in life, I didn't really care about any of them. I didn't care about Eve, I didn't care about her romance with Harry (Jeremy Irvine), I didn't care about Edward even though he is so adorable, and I definitely didn't care about Jean. Other than a sad experience that each of them experienced in their lives, separately, their is no other background given about them and no other character traits given to them other than what was molded of them from that one experience. Did they have no other facets to their personalities? (Side note: why was Eve's smile mentioned so much? Yes she smiles through her pain, but why did everyone take notice of it and then proceed to tell her that they noticed it.) Then the romance angle. If you've read any of my other posts you know how an inevitable, annoyed groan escapes my lips when an unnecessary romance crops up in a horror film (or any film for that matter) and this is definitely what happened when Harry was introduced in the story as I knew right away he was going to become the love interest of Eve. As I mentioned before, there is the feeling that his character was only written into the script for one reason (the fairy tale ending) and that's just shitty writing to me. I don't appreciate it and I'm not amused. Moving on. The biggest problem with this movie is the fact that similar or the exact same scare tactics are used from the first movie. Like there is the thumping of the rocking chair, the toys moving by themselves, the same jump scares, and so on and so on. How droll, I say! And speaking of jump scares, I completely dislike them. Once in a movie is fine, but when there's multiple jump scares over and over they simply lose their scare factor. I particularly don't like jump scares because once you've seen 'em they're never scary again so that automatically takes away my desire to view the movie again. Then there is the weak logic as to why Jennette Humfrye (the woman in black) targets Eve with her regretful past and uses Edward to do so, it just doesn't make sense. Production isn't great on this movie either, The lighting is horrible. I understand this sequel had a far less budget than the first one, so then why film mostly in the dark when there is a lack of funds for lighting? The movie is so dark and I have a feeling that the director, with such limited lighting went for an art house style of filming but it just didn't pan out. Perhaps this is the director's first foray into the horror genre, so his flubs can be excused but that still doesn't make this a good movie. Then, of course, being a PG-13 movie, it is overwhelmingly predictable. So much so that there really is no point in watching because we all know what is going to happen in the end. And then there's the obvious desire to make another sequel to which my reply is "NOOOOO!", we don't anymore sub-par, unoriginal horror flicks. Bring us something new and creative, please!
Overall The Woman in Black 2:Angel of Death is a decent horror film, but is ultimately forgettable. This is a movie that is probably only scary for people who aren't horror fanatics like I am. Even still, those people wouldn't find this movie memorable or would they want to view it again. And I suppose that answers my own question of would I watch it again.
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