Insidious: Chapter 2 review
Insidious: Chapter 2 feels more like a compliment to the original film than a sequel. Fans of the original will enjoy how they intersect…but people looking for something new may be left wanting. If nothing else, it proved the franchise had legs.
Classic movie reviews will contain spoilers
Insidious: Chapter 2
Directed by James Wan
Screenplay by Leigh Whannell
Starring Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Ty Simpkins, Barbara Hershey and Lin Shaye
Insidious: Chapter 2 Review
At the end of the original Halloween, we don’t know what Michael Myers is or where he has gone. What we do know is that the world will never feel safe again. It’s a perfect ending. Three years later the success of the slasher genre brought Michael back. It meant immediately answering the questions that we really didn’t want to know the answers to. Nothing can truly undo the brilliance of the original…but sequels can redefine them. The ending of Insidious isn’t as perfect as the ending of Halloween. But it is great.
Chapter 2 has no choice but to answer the same questions Halloween II did. It tells you what happens next. Not knowing is always the better choice. Your imagination will find the perfect answer for you…it will be more personal and is made possible by the open ending. Insidious: Chapter 2 firmly shuts the (red) door on that opportunity.
Insidious: Chapter 2 goes much further than telling us what comes next. It doubles down by showing us what came before. Then it triples down by showing us what was really going on the first time. It’s a bold way to make a sequel. It takes everything you think about the original and tells you whether you are right or wrong. A sequel redefining the understanding of the superior original is a risky proposition. Honestly, it kind of works this time. So much of Chapter 2 feels like the footnotes to Insidious that it almost doesn’t feel like a sequel at all. More like Loose Ends: The Movie. Those loose ends sometimes become the most interesting part. Even when a movie exists to tie them up.
Insidious: Chapter 2 begins with a flashback. It sets the tone for what the movie is going to be. Unlike most sequels that set out to build a bigger story off the back of the original…this one is squarely focused on discussing every aspect of it. We learn more about Josh’s history and Elise’s unknown role in his life. It also sets the stage for a return to the scene as Josh’s astral projection interacts with multiple time periods in his life. Things like this make this sequel totally unique.
When we do get to the direct continuation of the original…we get the answers we don’t really want. Renai suspects that her husband has murdered Elise…but keeps it to herself. Later, when forensic testing fails to match Josh’s hands to Elise’s wounds…she is relieved. It’s an interesting idea. She should feel relieved because Josh really didn’t kill Elise. But she shouldn’t be because the entity currently inhabiting Josh is still there. We spend much of Chapter 2 investigating that entity (The Bride in Black) and what happened to Josh.
Of course, the lead investigator of the franchise is now dead…which complicates things. Her, until now unseen, partner Carl arrives to contact Elise in the afterlife. He uses lettered dice to gather information. It’s pretty cool, honestly. It’s also a clear MacGuffin brought in out of pure necessity. The investigation leads to an abandoned hospital. Probably done solely to have a spooky setting to walk around in…director James Wan goes handheld to provide a found footage feel to the location. It works incredibly well. There is a terrific short, haunted house movie in the middle of Insidious: Chapter 2.
Patrick Wilson turns in an excellent performance as the version of Josh we see in the real world. If the original is like Poltergeist…Chapter 2 evokes The Shining. The soul inhabiting Josh’s body is rotting it…and telling it to kill his family. There are some fantastic scenes involving the evil Josh. Wilson is terrific at playing them. The real Josh is still trapped in The Further…but he has help in getting out. That’s right…Lin Shaye is back as the amazing Elise. Even death can’t stop her from saving the day.
Josh’s journey back to his body is, perhaps, the most interesting part of Insidious: Chapter 2. We see explanations for new inventions (older Josh appearing in a VHS tape with younger Josh) and old ones (Josh turns out to be the reason for many of the strange events occurring in the original film). Chapter 2 gives us the actual happy ending that was teased in the first film. The family leaves intact and the astral projectors are made to forget what happened again. At least until we open The Red Door later this week.
Outside of largely sidelining Rose Byrne’s Renai…the sequel gives you more than you’d expect in ways you wouldn’t expect them. There are three major storylines that run through most of the film (Josh’s journey home, the investigation into The Bride in Black, and Evil Josh’s story) …Renai isn’t at the center of any of them. It’s unfortunate since Byrne is so great with what she is given.
The movie ends with a hook for further adventures…just not for Josh and company. Elise’s specter continues her investigations from the beyond. We end on a cliffhanger that isn’t nearly as interesting as the first movie. Answers that you won’t mind future entries giving you. Which means that Insidious: Chapter 2 did its job. What we end up with is a pretty good movie. A movie that stands out for doing something different than traditional sequels. But one that we can argue about the need for, nonetheless. Is it worth watching? Absolutely. Is it worth changing the understanding of the superior original for? Probably not.
Scare Value
Insidious: Chapter 2 is a sequel/prequel/companion piece to Insidious all in one. If you liked Insidious, I have good news. Chapter 2 REALLY liked Insidious. If you can get past the loss of the first film’s tremendous ending…there is a lot to like here. Patrick Wilson gives a great performance. The story is wrapped in a nice bow. The family gets an unexpected happy ending. At least until Friday’s release of The Red Door.
2.5/5
Insidious: Chapter 2 Links
Streaming on Max
Rent/Buy on VOD from Vudu and Amazon
Buy on Blu-Ray from Amazon
