Smile 2 expands Britney Spears’ character, exposing a pop diva’s crazy personality in a somewhat brutal yet predictable and repetitive sequel. Naomi Scott’s exceptional performance is enthralling to watch and assists raise the poorly written screenplay. She is a tragicist who yells, melts down in fright, and dances while the demon with the smile wrecks havoc. The initial phase of the movie is intriguing but the premise is so stretched that quite a few irritating slogs have become a necessity. The advance of the story is very slow, but we cannot deny it is meant for people who tolerate gradual increase in torture with blood and guts.
Following the gruesome events of the original six days back, Kyle Gallner plays an Officer who resorts to self-harm in a bid to remove the Smile curse. Let us just say that the plan does not end how it should. We are then introduced to Scott Pierre and Drew Barrymore’s daytime television in which the gorgeous pop diva Skye Riley (Scott) is performing. The crowd goes nuts Skye says she would be going on tour again after a sea terrible year. A drunken Skye was involved in an accident that killed her movie star boyfriend. Skye, once sporting a solid black hairstyle, explains that her hair is short, blonde and she has many contours and injury scars that mentally affect her because of the deep trauma.
The controlling mother and manager of Skye, Elizabeth (Rosemarie DeWitt) takes her through the studio and out the door where many fans are waiting for her. Sky’s assistant who attends to her every need, Joshua (Miles Gutierrez-Riley), offers her a bottle which she gulps down like a thirsty camel. Water is meant to be consumed by Skye, whenever she feels anxious. This transforms Smile 2 into a three hour promo for Voss. PDM must have been half of the budget.
Skye has an important upcoming show and so goes through a practice for a dance routine. After working on the complex choreography, she faints with pain. Elizabeth has had enough and drives Skye to her luxurious NYC flat, but she doesn’t actually go to her place. In a desperate attempt, Skye runs to her high school drug dealer to get rid of her pain. Lewis (Lukas Gage) opens the door in a neurotic state, which draws concern from his audience. I think he needs to be cleared up since something strange and terrifying is happening to him.
Smile 2’s plot which is influenced by the pop music genre, came as a shocker. Skye is a totally different main character from the therapist Sosie Bacon performed in the first installment of ‘The Smile.’ Where Parker Finn as a writer for his own productions Parker Finn first film was based on guilt and suicide ideation, Second film has themes of fame, social media and drug abuse.
It is important to note that the bond between Skye and her mother, for the most part an unyielding dictator, reaches another notch as it becomes a subplot worth mentioning. It is fascinating on a dramatic level but however may be considered as a distraction from the main premise of horror. A huge portion of the narrative revolves around Finn’s depiction of Skye posing for fashion shoots amongst dramatized set pieces and child-like fits in her dressing room. Quite a lot of this boils down to complete waste of time in the concepts. It’s understandable to go deeper, to say the least, into Skye’s family and career but this far is excessive. These would have made the edit thinner.
Furthermore, Anderson manages to raise the gore volume to rather nauseating levels. The effects and make-up team have delivered even more praise for the extraordinarily ugly reality. There’s no computer generated imagery blood or guts in this movie. The screenwriters invent ways in which the characters die and this barbidon most, if not all cases, devises more attention to detail than would be considered trouble. Death scenes will unleash the togetherness of ‘gag and cheer’ as everything goes over the board. There’s even further ways of torture through the use of bruising close-ups. There was one moment that was so over the top that I thought my partner was about to throw up. It is safe to say that the gore lovers will love this movie.
Smile 2 includes a selection of effective jump scares albeit the fright level cannot be compared to the first film. There’s no reason for it to be this long. Finn’s attempts to analyze Skye’s mental breakdown has a similar approach to the way he created his music. It is over complicated. There are two perspectives that can be taken regarding the sluggish exposition. There’s, however, praise for Finn over character development. Skye has been through hell and back. Every instance of her degradation is chronicled, but the horror suffers because of it. The bland stretches destroy suspense. No audience should ever find themselves dozing off in a horror movie.
Scott stands out in a tough role and does it well. She has the trademark scream queen look, but is quite able. The entity doesn’t just mess with Skye’s addiction issues, they play mental games with her. She is turned into an inconsolable blubbering mess as her reality shatters. But there is music, and dancing that she has to do continuously as well. Scott’s charisma is impressive on stage. She’s convincing enough to possibly sell seats in a large arena. During the editing process is probably when Finn fell head over heels for her. Sure, the great stage shows are impressive, but they should not dominate the film. People do not go to the cinema to boogie in the aisles – they want to be frightened out of their pants.
There is nothing new to learn in the character of the evil antagonist in Smile 2. That is a letdown. It follows the same trajectory of the predecessor and heads exactly where it should head according to the film. We really should have been given more of a bone. What is this? Where is it from? We still are in the dark. Smile 2 is a hit-or-miss kind of movie. It is engaging with its performances and meets the bare minimum level of how horrors should be, but extends for no reason.
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