With the recent release of the first trailer to The Conjuring 2 (now without the subtitle "The Enfield Poltergeist), it has left me wondering if James Wan's heart is really back with The Conjuring franchise.
After seeing the first trailer, I wasn't super excited for it. Granted it's only the first trailer, but I just thought the dialogue was kind of weak, so were the scares.
James Wan didn't leave the horror genre for too long. When he embarked on Furious 7, he also made the announcement that he is retiring from horror movies.
But after Warner Bros. Pictures saw what he did with Furious 7, especially under those strenuous circumstances which he still managed to pull things off; WB quickly made him a deal. And it was an offer he couldn't refuse.
WB was willing to give Wan a big tent-pole DC movie (Aquaman) in exchange for him to continue with New Line Cinema to direct The Conjuring 2.
How much of an arm-twisting WB gave Wan, we will never know. And so we'll never know if Wan's heart was in the right place when he came back to direct this movie.
Wan was set to leave the horror genre behind. He felt that he has much more to offer than just getting pigeon-holed as the horror director. After Furious 7, who could disagree?
Now I don't need The Conjuring 2 to do as well as its predecessor, be it in terms of money or critical rating. It just need to be a good horror movie and I'll be satisfied.
But if the movie doesn't do well, then there will be too many variables to consider.
1) Wan is tired of horror
The most obvious reason being Wan is no longer interested in shooting horror flicks. He's been doing only horror this whole time before Furious 7, except for one crime-drama Death Sentence which didn't sit well with critics.
But he really wants to do Aquaman, and who can blame him because that is the natural progression for him to move up. So he's forcing himself to do The Conjuring 2 and that kind of mentality will not produce the best work.
2) Sophomore slum
Sequels generally has an uphill battle when it comes to being a better movie than the first. The Conjuring will be no different. Critics loved the first movie. So now the sequel will naturally be compared to the first, critically and with fans alike.
So is it really Wan's fault if the sequel doesn't reach the same heights the first one did?
3) Too many cooks spoil the broth
I was a bit surprised to see the number of writers doubled for the sequel. The Conjuring had Chad and Carey Hayes providing the screenplay. The Conjuring 2 sees the inclusion of Wan himself as well as David Leslie Johnson, whose previous work has not been memorable to say the least.
Why wasn't the Hayes enough for the sequel? To include Wan is not as jarring, but with the addition of Johnson, especially with his past record? This has inevitably left me questioning the writing process and quality.
But there is a light of hope yet for The Conjuring 2, and that is Furious 7. Wan managed to take a break and do something else that isn't a horror before jumping right back into it. In that sense, the process may have even rejuvenated his love for horror, and if that's the case it will show in this movie.
And if the movie does well - and, once again, by well I don't mean it has to be as good or surpass the first one, just has to be a good horror movie - no one will ask questions.
No comments:
Post a Comment