big post containing all my thoughts on the movie cuz i absolutely Have to discuss, my dms are also extremely open if anyone wants to talk about this movie cuz im not normal about it !!!!!
okay first i wanna start with the plot, i was real curious to see what direction they'd take the movie in after how the first one ended but i was really happy with how this went!! i like how the first movie is finney's and the second movie is more gwen's, maddy was absolutely amazing and so was mason, several scenes had me so emotional (i'll get to them later i fear) i do feel like they were juggling a lot with the amount of plots they had going on but they balanced it well
okay so characters.. i fucking loved finney and gwen in this film!!!! i loved how gwen was still so fiery, the scenes where she was insulting barb reminded me of when she was insulting the cops in the first film shes actually my daughter i love her so much .. finney was also so incredible and tragic and im crazy abt it and wanna talk about a few specific scenes
the scene at the beginning where finney's smoking and hes thinking back on the grabber and the basement, specifically when he sees the grabber in his mask for the first time and albert pushes finneys hair out of his face and finney says aloud to himself "if you try to touch me i'll scratch your face" THIS SCENE SPEAKS VOLUMES TO ME.. the grabber had far scarier moments in the first film but finney thinks back on this? how can you not see the grabber is a predator.. makes me sick when people thirst over him i actually ached for finney when he was thinking back on this
finneys breakdown near the end. Oh my god. gwen calling him out for being just like their father and numbing his pain instead of dealing with it and finney breaking down over it and saying he was so scared and he doesnt want to be a freak anymore IM ENDING IT ALL oh my god i just want to put him in my pocket mason and maddy were so incredible in this scene i Cried
short scene but i loved the part when finney is helping gwen back home after she sleepwalks to the basement and he turns and looks at the basement and spits on the ground before he leaves.. very small scene but so powerful to me, though i did think it was a bit odd that finney had such little of a reaction to being in the basement again besides spitting on the ground.. like hello this is where you were kidnapped and presumably tortured and almost killed and you killed a guy here?? maybe hes just restraining himself for gwens sake but the movie makes a big point out of finney not being over what happened yet and letting his trauma consume him and him needing to numb that pain somehow so youd think he'd have a bigger reaction idk.. speaking of the basement i ADORE that set design where its all fucked up and graffiti is everywhere and the core graffiti of "THE GRABBER BURNS IN HELL" oughhh this set design means EVERYTHING to me!!!!!
Ok. The ghosts. i adore them though i feel they were nowhere near as impactful as the old ghosts.. i may be biased but i feel like with the first film you really got to know the ghosts by the way they speak and their mannerisms and the glimpses of life we saw in gwen's dreams but in the second movie they are far less human. i guess it makes sense that they've been dead so long they really don't remember anymore but i wish we got a little more of them since the ghosts really were the heart of the first film in my opinion..
speaking of old ghosts... i knew they were going to mention robin a trillion times- the fight scene at the beginning with finney and that other kid mirroring robin and moose's fight, finney quoting robin to gwen afterwards... Ough delicious i think that was the most impactful mention of robin to me LMAOO.. and oh my god. Billy fucking Showalter. the moment i saw that first flash of newspaper i fucking gasped so loud in the cinema I COULDNT BELIEVE WE SAW HIIM AGAIN?? WE SAW HIM IN THE BASEMENT??? i was hoping so hard for a vance mention as i am the number 1 fan of him ever (i was disappointed, of course.) but i really thought they werent going to mention anybody except robin so i was so so fucking happy to see billy again !!!! gwen saying he was the first to go missing in their area really threw me for a loop because all this time we thought griffin was the first victim (though i guess he really wasnt either since these camp victims were the first) but oomf on twt pointed out to me that billy was the first to go missing IN THEIR AREA, griffin was still the first he just didnt live near them, the canon in my head is safe thank fuck though i do have to rethink the whole timeline as hope's suicide being while billy was alive throws me for a loop.. the first movie made it seem as if she killed herself ages ago but the 2nd one confirms that its far more recent
more characters: briefly i wanna say mustang did not really do shit i expected her to do more but alas.. im just glad she wasnt thrown in as a random love interest for finney (DONNA COME HOME I MISS YOU. I WAS SO SAD SHE WASNT IN THIS MOVIE).. ernesto on the other hand. Ough. ive been very vocal about the fact that i didnt think he should be in the movie and now that i've seen it my point still stands! you'd think he was at that camp for robin but no, he was there bc he wanted gwen?? his whole character seemed to revolve around being her love interest apart from the one scene where he asked finney if he really talked to robin in the basement. maybe i wouldve liked him more if he wasnt just a love interest but alas i did not care for him.. if they wanted a love interest they couldve had donna (yes im still hung up on her.) or if they wanted a sibling connection they could've had amy yamada..?? fandom loves her despite her only being mentioned once in the first film so they had an opportunity here!!! if youre going 2nd film new character route they couldve even found a sibling or cousin or something of one of the new ghosts?? idk man i just dont want ernesto around LMFAO that shit he said "its hot when you talk to jesus" Oh my god shut up im cringing so fucking hard right now
the grabber... where do i even begin... i cant decide which movie hes more terrifying in, i think hes equally scary in both films just in different ways. when i saw the trailers i thought id laugh at him ice skating and shit but he still managed to be unsettling and intimidating! im not sure how i feel about the plotline with him and hope... i like the origins of him at the camp, it makes sense (though dont ask me about that wild bill bullshit because i have no clue what was going on there, why was he so crazy about that and why was it such a big deal .. youd think he'd get more upset if they confronted him with his real name, albert shaw, instead of the grabber persona he hides behind) though him and hope being connected is. Eh. a lot of the terror from the first movie comes from the notion that he is this awful Stranger that you never saw coming doing these awful things and that no boy is safe and he could take a fighter or someone nobody knows or someone popular, he could take your best friend or he could take You, the fact that he had no connection to finney yet stalked and took him anyway was terrifying but now its sorta like. Okay yeah i knew about you the whole time cause i killed your mum i'll just come back for u later tho. dont know how i feel about that LMAO
i think the grabber also delivers the most insane line that has stuck in my head and never left since i first watched, when hes taunting and he says "tell those boys i miss them" like OH MY GOD YOU ARE SO EVIL???? YOU ARE AWFUL???? I NEED YOU KILLED 50000 TIMES OVER??? i just had to mention that line cuz holy shit i actually gasped and i honestly felt a little bit ill
what other little things can i mention... love that the intro had the same music and vibe as the first film, sooo much nostalgia in there i cheered!! MAX CAMEO HAD ME CHEERING TOO... i thought theyd def mention him but im glad we got to see him too!! im sad we didnt get to see the original ghost boys (again, im biased) but my cousin pointed out to me that shes glad we dont see them because it means theyre at peace and moved on and in the same place finneys mum is and that makes me happy so yknow what hell yeah
i think ive exhausted every possible plot point but i'll definitely have more to say when i rewatch the film, hoping to do so in the next coming days!! im gonna say yet again my dms are extremely incredibly open if youve also seen this movie and want to yap about it, both here and on twitter! (my @ is pinballvance on there :D) and if youve read this far thanks so much cause Holy yap this is all quite surface level to me but i am absolutely going to try make some proper in-depth analysis posts at some point !! since i plugged my twt im also gonna plug my letterboxd its the same username as here Okay thanks bye !
