The
Woman In Black 2:
Angel Of Death
The
title is more intimidating than the movie.
It’s 40 years after the stuff from the last movie happened (that
one with Harry Potter acting all grown up and stuff, remember?), and the Eel Marsh
House is about to have some new occupants. World War II is raging and
children from London have been evacuated to the countryside for their
own safety. Of course, little do they know, they are being moved into a
HAUNTED HOUSE!!!!!
Young Edward (Oaklee Pendergast), who just lost his parents, has
started to act strangely. His young teacher (who has a secret), Eve
(Phoebe Fox), wants to investigate further, and happens to need help
from the hunky Royal Air Force pilot guy who lives nearby, Harry
Burnstow (Jeremy Irvine). Guess what? He also has a secret!
Why so many secrets?
What or who is making contact with Edward?
Does it mean harm?
Since the movie is called ANGEL OF DEATH, I bet you already
figured out that whatever it is means great harm.
The Woman in Black 2: Angel Of Death is not
the worst movie ever.
Director Tom Harper delivers a typical, almost introductory level
director’s performance working with a script from Jon Croker,
which very much is an introductory level screenplay.
Everything basic and rote you anticipate is here including the bumps in
the night, long dark hallways people walk down very slowly, and
shocking surprises jumping out at you from around the corners.
It’s all there in non-stunning but non-revolting fashion. The
audience gets scared in all of the right places. All of the actors
react with the proper fright and urgency.
Sadly, the action never truly rises the way it needs to. It's all very
flat with each scare coming at about the same interval, and at the same
level of fright.
We need an escalation to make The Woman In Black 2: Angel Of Death
become more than average. Toward the end, one of the characters says
something that would have made the movie 100% more interesting if it
had been revealed earlier, which is sad, because that line of dialogue,
that revelation, could have saved us from a predictable ending.
Also, Harper and Croker should have focused on the kids. Their
interactions with dark forces of evil are so much more interesting and
perilous than watching two adult love birds being drawn together to
overcome their pasts and exchange some googly eyes. Most of the kids in
the movie are just as good as the adults, so let them take the lead and
make us fear more for the characters on screen.
The Woman In Black 2: Angel Of Death is
passable.
The
Woman In Black 2: Angel Of Death is rated PG-13 for some disturbing and
frightening images, and for thematic elements.
|