In this sequel to the original Candyman that has the exact same name (it's the Thing prequel all over again; just add a subtitle to tell them apart!), Anthony McCoy (played by Aquaman's Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), suffering from artist's block, turns to the urban legend of the Candyman for creativity, which leads him down a dark, deadly path.
First off, the scares and violence in this are really, really well done. There are clever and brutal ideas in this. There's a scene where I had to avert my eyes, and that doesn't happen much. Some of the best "slashing" kills I've ever seen put to screen are here.
The camerawork is wonderful (including one kill you won't forget). There is a lot of use of mirrors and reflections and it never gets old. Has wonderful sets and locations, especially in the nicer part of Chicago. Some unique architecture choices are used to create a feeling of cold, urban uneasiness.
Paper shadow puppets are used for the exhibition of the Candyman's history and they have their own creepy simplicity to them. Hats off to both the opening and closing credits and the musical choices for them. (Think about the opening to Us; they share that particular unsettling feel.) Also just kudos for doing an opening credits at all; you don't see those much anymore. We even get a rework of the music box/Helen's theme from the original that has its own special take.
The movie has a clever and surprisingly acceptable way of dealing with the fact that original Candyman Tony Todd is too old looking to play the unaging character. This new idea also comes up with a decent explanation for why he's called Candyman, which was never explained in the original. The film does all this, while managing to maintain continuity.
Whereas the original was a white director's views of the black experience, this movie is a direct source of the Black voice with both an African American director and screenwriters, including Jordan Peele. The film addresses such topics as gentrification and the treatment of the Black man in American history.
The script has a few funny moments that manage not to feel out of place or betray the horror of the film.
As much as I was shocked by the movie or interested in what happened next, the story could've been tighter in a couple places. There are twp short character moments I think could've been cut as they didn't quite work. There are also a couple scenes that I felt needed to be handled in a more nuanced manner.
Fans of Tony Todd don't come into this expecting to see him. It's too bad, because the threat or threats in this don't have the gravitas Todd possessed and made the character famous.
Cast in this pretty is good, especially Abdul-Mateen. He does a great job of playing a three-dimensional character that becomes selfish and self-destructive, but you still care about what happens to him.
I still prefer the original. It had a tighter script and more of a unique raw, bleak feel to it. This doesn't miss by that much, though. It still brings a bleak, urban eeriness to everything while also having it's own feel. The movie definitely leaves more of an impression than a lot of horror movies. Recommended, especially for kill fans.
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