Again, I previously included Phantasm II back in 2011's Halloween Countdown. I really disliked it back then, but on a second viewing find it to be far more tolerable. I still have some of the same complaints such as the characters of Liz and Alchemy not really contributing much. Liz, at least starts out as a guiding factor to the plot, but once she's connected to Reggie and Mike, she has a lot less to do beyond being a captive, even though she is instrumental to the climactic showdown with the Tall Man. Alchemy is essentially there to be eye candy and to begin what will be a running character trait for Reggie, making him a horny dude constantly trying to sleep with the female characters in each subsequent installment. It's not a charming trait.
The plot is much more down to earth this time, as Mike (now played by James LeGros - less jarring for me this time, but I'd rather A. Michael Baldwin had returned as Mike) and Reggie pursue the Tall Man through the trail of towns that have fallen into becoming ghost towns in his wake of grave robbing. The chrome sphere is back as are the killer dwarves, the Tall man and the hemi 'Cuda, but the relentless inventiveness of the original is not present in this film. Instead, the established tropes of the first film are locked in place as being the key elements, and no new madness is introduced to supplement them.
It's a watchable sequel, but not a necessary addition to the fine film that the original Phantasm remains.
No comments:
Post a Comment