'Candyman' (2021) Review Thread

Rotten Tomatoes: 95% (57 critics) with 7.80 in average rating

Metacritic: 74/100 (30 critics)

As with other movies, the scores are set to change as time passes. Meanwhile, I'll post some short reviews on the movie.

Whether you call it a spiritual sequel, a reboot or a reinvention, Candyman delivers a fresh take by flipping the perspective of the original, almost showing a mirror image as it continues the tradition of campfire ghost stories that acquire new dimensions and details as they are retold across generations. As Burke says at one point, encapsulating the scope of what DaCosta, Peele and Rosenfeld are aiming for: “Candyman ain’t a ‘he.’ He’s the whole damn hive.”

-David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter

Rose’s first film didn’t flinch at using a “political” storyline to drive its terror — anyone complaining that DaCosta’s film does the same is totally missing the point — but this new “Candyman” makes it even more overt, and somehow, even more timeless. As the grotesquerie grows and the stakes get ever higher, “Candyman” delivers a wholly unsubtle meditation on the history of violence and legacy of trauma that has led to this new incarnation. The film, originally scheduled to be released in June 2020, was always destined to be timely one, but arriving after so many pain-filled pandemic months, ensures that its sting will linger even longer.

-Kate Erbland, IndieWire: B+

One reason this “Candyman” never feels like a formula slasher film, even during the murders, is that DaCosta stages them with a spurting operatic dread that evokes the grandiloquent sadism of mid-period De Palma. In “Candyman,” there’s plenty of horror, but none of it is as disturbing as the true-life horror that can make people feel like they’re ghosts of the past.

-Owen Gleiberman, Variety

Part homage, part modern update, the new Candyman film by Nia DaCosta is a creeping descent into a violent past which refuses to stay hidden. Like prior films in the series, it adds new wrinkles to the urban legend, but it also remixes the mythology in ways that are both surprising and completely fitting.

-Siddhant Adlakha, IGN: 9.0 "amazing"

There are some startling and brilliant moments. And DaCosta contrives a tremendously bizarre death scene, a murder that we see at a distance, in longshot, as her camera pulls serenely away. This film is a very tasty confection of satire and scorn.

-Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian: 4/5

Having Jordan Peele as producer/co-writer gives the new “Candyman” some horror bona fides, but DaCosta is the chief creator crafting a visually arresting work that’s deeply timely and entertaining – even when Candyman’s on one of his bloody sprees. The filmmaker evokes a definite mood from the start, using a disturbingly distorted version of Sammy Davis Jr.'s classic "The Candy Man," and crafts a movie that weaves together the real and the fictional in meaningful fashion.

-Brian Truitt, USA Today: 3/4

DaCosta uses a range of thoughtfully considered media to shape their already-sharp script; the film’s violence is equally startling whether it’s depicted graphically and up-close, or through old-fashioned shadow puppets and oral traditions.

-Elizabeth Weitzman, The Wrap

Bees buzz, blood flows, and the past returns again and again, sometimes via gorgeous shadow puppetry. A dark, ominous undercurrent runs through "Candyman," signaling Nia DaCosta as a filmmaker with a firm, unique grasp on the genre. The original "Candyman" already had a few sequels, but none of them are as clever, as interesting, as effective as this. Go ahead. Dare to say his name five times in the mirror. "Candyman" will live on.

-Chris Evangelista, /FILM: 8/10

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PLOT

In present day, a decade after the last of the Cabrini towers were torn down, Anthony and his partner move into a loft in the now gentrified Cabrini. A chance encounter with an old-timer exposes Anthony to the true story behind Candyman. Anxious to use these macabre details in his studio as fresh grist for paintings, he unknowingly opens a door to a complex past that unravels his own sanity and unleashes a terrifying wave of violence.

DIRECTOR

Nia DaCosta

WRITERS

Jordan Peele & Win Rosenfeld & Nia DaCosta

Release date:

August 27, 2021

STARRING

• Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Anthony McCoy

• Teyonah Parris as Brianna Cartwright

• Nathan Stewart-Jarrett as Troy Cartwright

• Colman Domingo as William Burke

• Tony Todd as Daniel Robitaille/Candyman

• Vanessa Estelle Williams as Anne-Marie McCoy

Submitted August 25, 2021 at 11:13PM by SanderSo47 https://ift.tt/3zksUjI