Paranormal Activity 2 and Missed Chances: A Movie Review

Guest blogger Ed Sum has some insightful things to say about the latest Paranormal Activity film, which released in theatres this weekend. Have a listen:

Director: Tod Williams.

Writer: Michael R. Perry.

If there was ever a time a movie is looking like it’s stalled, Paranormal Activity 2 is one that needs help moving along. Even on a racetrack, what is heard is not just the sound of deafening engines; it is that of a sputtering vehicle.

What is wrong with this film is in its execution. There are six locked cameras and a roaming one. To watch them all is as exciting as working graveyard shift in security for the Sears Tower. Is it over yet? Better yet, can one sit down and read a book instead of keeping an eye on everything?

There are better ways to pace this film, like splitting the screen to show several cameras at one time. The pacing of this film could have been tighter and the 91 minutes wouldn’t feel like two and a half hours. There is only so much one can take in the day in the life of Kristi Rey (Sprague Graydon) and husband, Dan (Brian Boland), with their family. While that’s perfect to establish a gradual haunt, this production hardly has the hallmark of a sleeper hit.

Instead, what this story does is to flesh out a world on film where pacts with demons are made and that ghosts are a different entity all together. That is great these facts are finally straightened out even though they're coloured by the definition of what is good or evil. But even more importantly, the two sisters’ relationship is better understood. Katie (Katie Featherston) and Kristi briefly talk about their childhood. And Dan’s role in the film is small; he’s supposed to be the voice of reason and he’s never around when the scares first materialize.

Because of the first film’s success, what’s created is a continuation of a social experiment—the cameras should be pointing to the movie going audience rather than to the film itself. Capturing their shock and surprise is far more interesting to watch than with what’s on screen. Reactions are everything, and it is better to go to see this film in a packed house compared to an empty one.

As the energy of those emotions feed upon one another, maybe that wheezing Formula-1 can make it to the finishing line instead of puttering off. Maybe a darker Gremlins remake is in order.

Overall: 3/5.

Have a fly by of Ed's food and restaurant review blog here:

Two Hungry Blokes

A short clip from the film can be found here:

Movie Clip for PA2 on 28DLA


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