Keaton Merrell’s review published on Letterboxd:
Should’ve called this Voss Crashout
———————
Smile 2 is the unnecessary follow up to one of the more horror straightforward horror successes of the past few years. This isn’t an A24 horror film or an “intellectual horror film” (however dumb that term is) or anything like that. It’s a straightforward horror sequel that is trying to be just that. While I enjoyed the first film more than most, I seem to be in the minority here, as this is not only a step down from the first but a very tedious movie.
The film follows a pop star who has witnessed a murder and continues on the typical Smile path. The issue is the story follows nearly the exactly same pattern as the first, except for it is even more in relatable as the main character is some mixture of Ariana Grande and Billie Eilish. While it’s no surprise that these very rich, famous, and popular people have problems and issues too, it’s incredibly un relatable unless you’re Sabrina Carpenter or The Weeknd.
One of the biggest issues with Smile 2 is the fact that the majority of the film doesn’t take place as seen. Nearly every scary scene is a figment of the main charecters imagination, and it becomes incredibly tedious trying to keep straight what actually happened and what was just a neat visual flourish. It’s hard for the film to feel coherent as entire sequences are simply dreams or nightmares, it doesn’t even make sense and really causes the film to tear at the seams.
The film also rests far too much on its laurels. The upside down shots and nearly everything that made the first film so effective are rinsed and repeated here. While none of it is necessarily bad, it also feels far too safe and obvious.
That being said the film has its strong points. It’s got a fantastic opening sequence, a handful of subtle and not so subtle homages to films that are much more clever and artists like Donnie Darko and Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me. It also looks fantastic, and has a handful of very strong kills and horrific monsters and visuals that clearly take advantage of the bigger budget.
The cast is also very talented as Naomi Scott, Lukas Gage, and Dylan Gelula all preform well and prove that they can handle bigger roles and I hope that they get them. That being said, the script at times is so silly that they don’t have much they can do with it, specifically Dylan Gelula who is great in the film despite a handful of cringe-worthy lines.
All in all Smile 2 is a disappointing sequel that is overlong, uncreative, and far too comfortable offering, and this is coming from a fan of the first film. While Parker Finn surely wants to be seen as some kind of horror visionary, far too much of the two hour runtime is spent borrowing from more creative, complex, or versatile films while doing something they would never do- Voss product placement for the majority of a movie. Ultimately i’m torn between the good parts of this film, and the hollowness of it all.
Keaton liked these reviews
All
' ].join(''); if ( adsScript && adsScript === 'bandsintown' && adsPlatforms && ((window.isIOS && adsPlatforms.indexOf("iOS") >= 0) || (window.isAndroid && adsPlatforms.indexOf("Android") >= 0)) && adsLocations && adsMode && ( (adsMode === 'include' && adsLocations.indexOf(window.adsLocation) >= 0) || (adsMode === 'exclude' && adsLocations.indexOf(window.adsLocation) == -1) ) ) { var opts = { artist: "", song: "", adunit_id: 100005950, div_id: "cf_async_42168ea3-7142-4a66-b8b1-ad8fc4d4963e" }; adUnit.id = opts.div_id; if (target) { target.insertAdjacentElement('beforeend', adUnit); } else { tag.insertAdjacentElement('afterend', adUnit); } var c=function(){cf.showAsyncAd(opts)};if(typeof window.cf !== 'undefined')c();else{cf_async=!0;var r=document.createElement("script"),s=document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0];r.async=!0;r.src="//srv.tunefindforfans.com/fruits/apricots.js";r.readyState?r.onreadystatechange=function(){if("loaded"==r.readyState||"complete"==r.readyState)r.onreadystatechange=null,c()}:r.onload=c;s.parentNode.insertBefore(r,s)}; } else { adUnit.id = 'pw-42168ea3-7142-4a66-b8b1-ad8fc4d4963e'; adUnit.className = 'pw-div -tile300x250 -alignleft -bottommargin'; adUnit.setAttribute('data-pw-' + (renderMobile ? 'mobi' : 'desk'), 'med_rect_btf'); if (target) { target.insertAdjacentElement('beforeend', adUnit); } else { tag.insertAdjacentElement('afterend', adUnit); } window.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', (event) => { adUnit.insertAdjacentHTML('afterend', kicker); window.ramp.que.push(function () { window.ramp.addTag('pw-42168ea3-7142-4a66-b8b1-ad8fc4d4963e'); }); }, { once: true }); } } tag.remove(); })(document.getElementById('script-42168ea3-7142-4a66-b8b1-ad8fc4d4963e'));
' ].join(''); if ( adsScript && adsScript === 'bandsintown' && adsPlatforms && ((window.isIOS && adsPlatforms.indexOf("iOS") >= 0) || (window.isAndroid && adsPlatforms.indexOf("Android") >= 0)) && adsLocations && adsMode && ( (adsMode === 'include' && adsLocations.indexOf(window.adsLocation) >= 0) || (adsMode === 'exclude' && adsLocations.indexOf(window.adsLocation) == -1) ) ) { var opts = { artist: "", song: "", adunit_id: 100005950, div_id: "cf_async_7f4d53ba-8ad7-428a-b785-091a4fcc5abc" }; adUnit.id = opts.div_id; if (target) { target.insertAdjacentElement('beforeend', adUnit); } else { tag.insertAdjacentElement('afterend', adUnit); } var c=function(){cf.showAsyncAd(opts)};if(typeof window.cf !== 'undefined')c();else{cf_async=!0;var r=document.createElement("script"),s=document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0];r.async=!0;r.src="//srv.tunefindforfans.com/fruits/apricots.js";r.readyState?r.onreadystatechange=function(){if("loaded"==r.readyState||"complete"==r.readyState)r.onreadystatechange=null,c()}:r.onload=c;s.parentNode.insertBefore(r,s)}; } else { adUnit.id = 'pw-7f4d53ba-8ad7-428a-b785-091a4fcc5abc'; adUnit.className = 'pw-div'; adUnit.setAttribute('data-pw-' + (renderMobile ? 'mobi' : 'desk'), 'sky_btf'); if (target) { target.insertAdjacentElement('beforeend', adUnit); } else { tag.insertAdjacentElement('afterend', adUnit); } window.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', (event) => { adUnit.insertAdjacentHTML('afterend', kicker); window.ramp.que.push(function () { window.ramp.addTag('pw-7f4d53ba-8ad7-428a-b785-091a4fcc5abc'); }); }, { once: true }); } } tag.remove(); })(document.getElementById('script-7f4d53ba-8ad7-428a-b785-091a4fcc5abc'));
