Michael's Movie Grade: B-
Review: After finding the first Goosebumps movie to be little more than a decent time passer, I didn't go into this movie excepting much more. However while this film is nothing mind-blowing and has its share of faults, I found myself enjoying it quite a bit.
One thing that puts this movie ahead of the first one is that this one is quite a bit more creepy and suspenseful. Slappy still has a creepy presence and brings a bit of an edge to this film as he did last time. However this time, his plan is quite a bit more scary. While there is little here that will keep most adults up at night, the film has an eerie and uncomfortable feeling that is surprisingly unsettling. There are quite a few good jump scares and moments of real suspense. The most effective use of this suspense is in the early scenes, where we know Slappy is alive and the kids don't. Something could happen at any minute and we don't know when or he will truly reveal himself. Every time we see that seemingly lifeless dummy next to our heroes, this is all we can think about creating a fantastic mood of unease and suspense. Also (don't worry there are no real spoilers), while much of the conclusion of the first movie felt forced, it doesn't at all feel that way here, therefore creating some real suspense. Actually the ending here is great and makes me look forward to the third one. The main characters are underdeveloped, however they are likable enough that we don't want to see anything happen to them, making the spooky scenes more effective.
The humor is very hit and miss. The scene with the gummy bears is quite funny and I laughed out loud at a fantastic reference to It. Still some of the jokes completely miss their marks and made me groan. Also before our villain steps into the picture the movie is kind of dull. The opening scenes introducing our characters and storylines are quite dull. This part feels like a movie we have seen done many times before and often much better. Also while our main characters are likable, we are treated to very lame and boring school bullies and two boring romantic subplots. However when we first see Slappy the story gets interesting and the movie really picks up and becomes quite a bit of fun.
This may not be a new Halloween classic, but for what it is, this movie is definitely fun and I am glad I saw it.
-Michael J. Ruhland
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