La Monja II

The Nun II takes its time building the narrative and delving into character development. Unfortunately, the Christian relic's relevance and backstory, especially concerning Sister Irene, remain underexplored. While the film is well-crafted and directed, the resolution of the mystery and subsequent events feel somewhat rushed compared to the extensive setup.

Taissa Farmiga delivers a solid performance, but one craves more depth in her character beyond the initial portrayal. Jonas Bloquet's likable character arc from the previous installment is a highlight. However, Bonnie Aarons as the titular character lacks the expected menace and terror, except for a memorable encounter with Maurice's young friend, Sophie.

The Nun II boasts occasional atmospheric brilliance but falls short of consistently delivering in the vast Conjuring universe. Its low scare factor, uneven pacing, and reliance on horror cliches hold it back from reaching its full potential. While it somewhat redeems its predecessor, it still doesn't meet overall expectations.

I think I need to shift my perspective on what The Nun movies are supposed to be. The Conjuring films are great, full of scares, great writing. Annabelle is also pretty freaky. The Nun... feels more like Indiana Jones or a Disneyworld ride. Made-for-amusement-park action, props, and themes. Each time I go in expecting to be freaked out by "the greatest evil in the Conjuring Universe" just to walk away feeling like I went through a haunted house at Six Flags. The Nun II was not scary, barely interesting, and quite honestly boring at times. Conjuring Universe I love you, but let's send the Nun back to hell for good.

So, I was actually quite looking forward to this one. I wasn't expecting much from the original since sequels, prequel's and spinoffs often times are not up to par with their predecessors. However, I was quite pleasantly surprised with the first Nun and still think that it is a wildly underrated horror. So, after viewing this one, I must say that I was pretty disappointed. It was not a bad film by any means, but it did not live up to the quality of the first one and really landed in a very mediocre place.

It had a quick start and didn't waste any time, throwing us into the action. Yet, even then, I stopped and thought "well, that could've been cooler ". This same sentiment persisted throughout the majority of the film. It gave us some fun and creepiness, but then proceeded to move at a snails pace for quite some time. It felt like we were about 45 minutes in until I got any semblance of a real story line or something particularly intriguing. It really felt like they were going through the motions, an outline for a horror movie. As if they were following a map with very similar chain of events as the original.

It is no secret that this franchise loves a jump scare. The first one was full of them, however, it was also balanced out by genuinely creepy and cool effects with a general effective spook factor. This one had a bit of that, but was mostly just riddled with cheap, unnecessary and superfluous jump scares. Even most of the kills, while still entertaining, were pretty basic. At the same time there were also some effective imagery especially in the third act, some gnarly effects, and some pretty awesome stunts that stuck out.

I think my biggest issue with this is that the first one felt very deliberate and purposeful in many ways. It felt planned out and detailed... whereas this one felt like it was thrown together with the very bare minimum they could get away with as far as storyline went. Again, not a bad film, but nowhere near the quality of the first one for me. Would recommend, but not vehemently.

(Also, what's up with all these fake reviews? Weird. Lol)

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Another let-down in the 'Conjuring' universe. Who would've guessed? Apparently, just having creepy looking villainous characters isn't enough to make a strong horror movie. 'The Nun' is a very creepy looking character, there's no doubt about that. But these films do not seem to know how to use her properly.

The funny thing in these films to me, is when it's a minor character in danger - instant death. But when it is a major character in the movie - seemingly all 'The Nun' wants to do it jump out and scare you over and over again. It just makes no sense and really deflates all of the tension out of the movie.

If you're a fan of jump-scares then there's good news. You're likely going to have a good time with this one. The movie is riddled with them. Some are well done, others not so much. The problem with horror movies based entirely around jump-scares is that they are instantly forgettable. Maybe you remember one jump scare if it was especially well done, but you certainly never remember the film as a whole.

And I think that's the biggest problem here. There was nothing new, or unique about this film. Nothing that I will still be thinking about a week (or even 24 hours) from now. Just another forgettable experience and $22 down the drain. 4.5/10.

Given that The Nun (2018) was nothing more than a polished-looking series of loud noises and nonsensical happenings, I was not looking forward to the sequel.

And even though The Nun II has its share of cheap scares and a few unintentionally funny moments, I was shocked by how much better it is than the first film.

Flashes of greatness are seen here-more often than not it's directed with considerable skill and far more restraint than the first movie was. It's quieter and more patient at first, fleshing out its characters before things get insane in the third act.

As for these character dynamics, they're actually interesting this time around. The dialogue is sometimes cheesy, but there's a sincerity to the humans in this story that gives a gripping quality to the film's perilous moments.

There's certainly quite a bit of bad to be found here, but I actually liked more of this than I didn't. Hopefully these movies will get back to being good.