Month: September 2013

In the movie Insidious, the Lambert family is terrorized by spirits in another dimension called The Further. Josh and Renai Lambert’s son, Dalton suffers an accident that puts him into a coma and turns him into a bizarre conduit with this world. Josh’s mother, brings in her old friend Elise, a medium, and her assistants, Specs and Tucker, to help the family find the answers that they need and in the process they also discover that Josh has the same gifts as his son. By the end, Josh has made his own journey into The Further to bring back his son, but with a great cost, as Elise is murdered by the spirits in the real world.

Insidious: Chapter 2 takes place almost immediately after the events of the first film. We start with a flashback to Josh’s childhood and soon discover that he had a greater connection to the Further than what was revealed in the first movie. A younger Elise hypnotizes Josh into forgetting about this chapter in his life, but due to the events of the first movie, Josh’s own connection has now opened back up. Back in the present day, Elise’s murder is being investigated by the authorities with Josh being seen as a prime suspect. The Lambert family vacates their home to go stay with Josh’s mother and soon Josh is cleared of being a suspect. With this greater connection now being opened up more, the family soon finds out that their terror is far from over.

That’s the base premise to Insidious: Chapter 2 and without a doubt, you will need to have seen the first movie in order to keep up with what’s going on with the second. Insidious: Chapter 2 comes to us from director James Wan and writer Leigh Whannell who are no strangers to the horror genre having given us both the first Insidious as well as the first of the Saw movies. This is Wan’s second horror movie for the year, with his first being The Conjuring, which at least to me, is also one of the best movies of the year. I had a pretty good time with Insidious: Chapter 2 though not in the same league as The Conjuring.

One of the criticisms that I saw with the first movie was the whole idea of The Further and if you had any sort of problems with that, then this sequel may not fly to far with you as it’s firmly centered around The Further for the whole movie. For me, this other dimension brings to mind Don Coscarelli’s classic Phantasm series and I very much like how this went further in-depth with the concept especially using it well to find out the origins of the spirit that possesses Josh, a mysterious serial killer called The Bride in Black. By it’s end, they’ve now set up this series so that the world of The Further takes the front seat for any future films and of course the possibility of another sequel certainly exists.

Insidious: Chapter 2 movies at a pretty brisk pace that I think works especially well by the film’s end as it’s jumping between both the real world and The Further. It’s scares are mostly of the jump variety that are punctuated by the film’s score (terrific work from composer Joseph Bishara who also worked with Wan on The Conjuring). Where the film really excels for me though is just in it’s presentation of these new spirits and the very over-the-top way in which they are presented. For some, this might seem a little too cartoonish, but I like the fact that Wan and Whannell went that far especially with a character who’s the mother of the spirit that possesses Josh Lambert (played by actress Danielle Bisutti). I think it goes a little too far with the humor provided by the characters of Specs (Leigh Whannell) and Tucker (Angus Sampson) with just a few of the jokes seeming a little out of place, but it’s not a dealbreaker by any means.

Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Ty Simpkins, Lin Shaye, and Barbara Hershey all return from the first movie along with the above-mention Leigh Whannell and Angus Sampson and for the most part, it’s a good turn by the cast. I mentioned in my review of The Conjuring that Patrick Wilson is one of my favorite actors to watch at work these days and he doesn’t disappoint in the slightest here, especially after his character of Josh is possessed. Wilson really turns on the crazy at that point and for me anyway brought to mind Jack Nicholson’s work in The Shining. New to this cast is veteran character actor Steve Coulter who plays Carl, another associate of Elise’s and Tom Fitzpatrick who plays The Bride in Black. Good work from both actors, but big props to Fitzpatrick and just how far he was willing to go in his portrayal of The Bride.

Insidious: Chapter 2 was a lot of fun that for me was only slightly spoiled by a… let’s say “rambunctious” audience of kids who were happy to get into a horror movie that’s rated PG-13. It’s an absolute necessity to have seen the first film in order to appreciate what goes on here, but if you’re a die-hard fan of the first (and there’s many out there) then you’ll no doubt have a good time with Insidious: Chapter 2.

#1 Riddick from Universal opened at #1 with a gross of $19 million in 3,107 theaters.  Budget was $38 million.

#2 Lee Daniels’ The Butler from Weinstein Company held at #2 with a gross of $8.4 million (-43.5%) in 3,330 theaters.  Total gross to date is $91.4 million.  Budget was $30 million.

#3 Instructions Not Included from Lionsgate rose from #4 to #3 with a gross of $8.1 million (+3.9%) in 717 theaters (+369).  Total gross to date is $20.4 million.  Budget was unknown.

#4 We’re The Millers from Warner Bros. fell from #3 to #4 with a gross of $7.7 million (-39.5%) in 3,445 theaters.  Total gross to date is $123.6 million.  Budget was $37 million.

#5 Planes from Buena Vista held at #5 with a gross of $4.1 million (-46.8%) in 3,033 theaters (-226).  Total gross to date is $79.1 million.  Budget was $50 million.

#6 One Direction: This is Us from TriStar fell from #1 to #6 with a gross of $4 million (-74.4%) in 2,735 theaters.  Total gross to date is $23.9 million.  Budget was $10 million.

#7 Elysium from TriStar fell from #6 to #7 with a gross of $3.1 million (-51.2%) in 2,241 theaters (-298).  Total gross to date is $85.1 million.  Budget was $115 million.

#8 Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters from 20^th Century Fox rose from #10 to #8 with a gross of $2.4 million (-45.9%) in 2,045 theaters (-348).  Total gross to date is $59.8 million.  Budget was $90 million.

#9 Blue Jasmine from 20^th Century Fox rose from #12 to #9 with a gross of $2.34 million (-41.1%) in 1,069 theaters (-110).  Total gross to date is $25.1 million.  Budget was unknown.

#10 The World’s End from Focus Features fell from #8 to #10 with a gross of $2.31 million (-45.9%) in 1,520 theaters (-33).  Total gross to date is $21.8 million.  Budget was $20 million.

#11 The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones from Sony/ScreenGems fell from #7 to #11 with a gross of $2.2 million (-59.7%) in 2,519 theaters (-599).  Total gross to date is $27.9 million.  Budget was $60 million.

#12 Getaway from Warner Bros. fell from #9 to #12 with a gross of $2.19 million (-51.3%) in 2,135 theaters (+5).  Total gross to date is $8.8 million.  Budget was $18 million.

The combined gross of the top 12 movies this weekend was $66.1 million.

Sources:
Box Office Mojo

After being betrayed by the Necromongers, Richard Riddick has been left for dead on a desolate, sun-scorched world surrounded by various alien predators. Riddick looks at this as an opportunity to rebuild himself and soon manages to conquer his surroundings. After exploring the world further, he discovers an outpost that’s exclusively for use for bounty hunters and once he’s found that, he knows that his days for staying on this world are now numbered, being one of the most sought after criminals across space. Riddick devises a plan to get himself off world, and with the arrival of two different sets of mercenaries, his plan is about to take shape. But a literal storm is coming and with it a menace that no one will be able to stop.

That’s the broad premise to Riddick the latest film from writer/director and Riddick creator David Twohy and star Vin Diesel who plays the titular role. I’m a huge fan of their first movie, Pitch Black and while I thought there were some interesting aspects to it’s sequel, The Chronicles of Riddick, for the most part, I thought it was an unsatisfying experience. Riddick takes a very “back to basics” approach with it’s main character and the series itself, and at least to me, this is a very entertaining pulpy science fiction film.

The story is very episodic in nature, broken down into three acts with their own points, yet still with a nice flow. The first act is a pure tale of survival in a hostile environment and in some ways reminds of the classic science fiction movie Robinson Crusoe on Mars. The second act introduces the two sets of mercenaries and has a terrific Western feel to it (as well as little parts of it that reminded me of the sci-fi classic Forbidden Planet). The final act puts everything together and certainly harkens back to Pitch Black in a lot of ways, but also, at least to me adding some growth to the Riddick character. Even though this is a “back to basics” approach, it’s still a true sequel to the prior two movies as events from both are very much referred to, especially with one character from the first film. Basically, while I think that if you haven’t seen the first two movies, you still might enjoy this, you’ll enjoy it even more if you’ve seen both Pitch Black and Chronicles.

Two points that I really liked that I’ve seen others criticize are with the pacing of the film and it’s visual effects. Riddick does have a leisurely drawn-out pace that I think works for it’s episodic nature and is particularly effective in the first third of the movie. I think the look of the movie and it’s visual effects are absolutely fantastic. This has a much more theatrical look to it’s visuals rather than one that looks totally real and the same is true with it’s creature design. For me, there are some scenes here that put me right in the mind of classic science fiction paperback book covers and for the overall pulpy feel of the film, I don’t think it hurts it in the slightest.

As mentioned above, Vin Diesel returns to the part of Richard Riddick and it’s pretty obvious to me by his work on screen just how special this character is to him. In particular watching Diesel during the first third of this is especially fun as he gets introspective about what led him to this situation and as he develops his own relationship with a dog-like creature native to this world. For the most part, the mercenaries are all run-of-the-mill characters, but the actors playing them look like they’re having quite a bit of fun and there are a few standouts. Jordi Molla and Dave Bautista play Santana and Diaz respectively from the first group of mercenaries Santana is the leader of the group and Molla plays it with the right amount of smarm. Bautista’s Diaz, is the heavy duty enforcer who actually gets a lot of the good lines and has more clarity about their situation than the other members of his group do. Matt Nable and Battlestar Galactica’s Katee Sackhoff play Johns and Dahl from the other group of mercenaries. I’m a fan of Sackhoff’s and just really enjoyed seeing her here, but between the two Nable is the real standout. His character actually has a personal reason for pursuing Riddick and yet the way it’s written and the way Nable plays it, it’s not just one note and the character, at least to me has more to exist for than just revenge.

I had a terrific time with Riddick. It certainly made up for the disappointment that I had in the prior film and it’s “back-to-basics” approach was quite appealing and certainly leaves the character in a better place than where he was at the end of the prior movie. I love the film’s look, it’s relaxed pace and it’s melding of sci-fi and western genres. I hope this isn’t the last we see of Richard Riddick, but only as long as David Twohy and Vin Diesel are there to guide the character.