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In this sequel, Sister Irene (played by American Horror Story's Taissa Farmiga) is tasked with hunting down the demon Valak/the Nun (Bonnie Aarons) across Europe.
This sequel made a concentrated effort to address the criticisms about its predecessor. (I liked that one, but I confess it's my least favorite of the ones I like. All the others put a little more effort in.) More emphasis is put into the story here and the scares. Whereas the graveyard scene is the only scene most people remember from the first, here we've got a few memorable and eyecatching ones. Definite thought was given to the visuals kinda bringing a beautiful darkness to the whole affair. The newspaper stand scene from the trailers is a creative standout. This movie feels more like an adventure film than the other Conjuringverse movies. Some fairly high production values here for a horror film. The Nun does get a little too physical a couple times rather than only relying on traditional demonic powers. The demon felt a little too much like a slasher killer.
Though I liked the scares, not enough time is spent on them. In order to correct the lack of a story backbone, I fear this movie went too far the other way. Irene's story feels like it's just there to give her a story rather than being anything substantial. The story of Maurice (Jonas Bloquet), her ally from the last film, definitely has more weight to it, but the problem is that they repeat story beats way too often. His story should've been much leaner. Because of the story padding, we're left frustrated and waiting for things to get scary again. Sure, the last movie was basically just pottering around a monastery, but at least the spookiness remained consistent.
Farmiga gives a strong performance, nailing all the emotional beats. Given that this movie is more serious than the last, Maurice isn't given the chance to be as comedic and fun as the last movie, but I do love Bloquet's performance. Maurice is just a nice guy. Unfortunately, Damian Bichir doesn't return from the first film as Father Burke. I liked the guy. Also, it seems odd that the Vatican sends Irene out by herself without any exorcism professionals.
Kinda recommended. I liked the scary parts, but I did wish the film moved faster. I think I prefer the last one better as it was quicker paced even if it didn't have as many strong scenes.
