The final get felt new and distinct as a result of the big swings the film made, which may have caused controversy.
With Halloween Ends, a multidecade drama with one of the haziest timelines in recent memory concludes (at least temporarily). The David Gordon Green-directed reboot trilogy and the entire franchise were meant to come to an end with this film, which also served to put an end to the rivalry between Laurie Strode and Michael Myers. To avoid becoming boring or repetitive like the 12 movies that came before it, the movie takes several abrupt changes. Is it important if they are successful?
Reviews of Halloween Ends have been inconsistent thus far. Others thought the concepts were a little too avant-garde and took away from what makes the Halloween series so unique. Some folks nice the new direction it took. The real benefit of fundamentally modifying a franchise is that it makes the movie distinctive and shows that the creative team wanted to create something original rather than just a shoddy copy of what came before.
Halloween Ends immediately distinguishes itself from its predecessors with a novel opening scene. Babysitters are not being murdered by a psychotic serial killer, and Michael Myers is not the danger. Instead, the babysitter (unintentionally) kills the child who was supposed to be in his care. The moment itself is surprising, especially after being lulled into a false sense of security by the opening’s comparatively calm and moderate pace. This Halloween movie won’t be exactly what viewers are hoping for because it has a slightly different plot to express.
Michael Myers doesn’t represent much of a threat during the entire movie, which many fans (maybe rightfully) took issue with. This is a strong argument since there should have been a lot of build-up to this last showdown between him and Laurie if it were to occur. Giving him a partner so that he isn’t the only murderer out there is still an intriguing thought experiment. It raises the question of whether hostility in people is something that can be learned or if it was always present but only needed a little nudging (in Corey Cunningham’s case, quite literally) to emerge.
Working with Corey and Michael Myers provides a distinctive context for murder set pieces where two attackers cooperate to kill their victims. It makes me think of a movie similar to Scream, especially considering the cliché that the main character’s nice is also the murderer. The plot becomes substantially more engaging because the audience is unsure of the story’s direction. It also becomes a little less predictable when the situations on screen aren’t ones that the brand has previously tried to explore.
The three films of David Gordon Green’s Halloween trilogy have all appeared to be remarkably different from one another. Some individuals think this is a problem since it gives the impression that the overall tale isn’t related to the films and is instead told in three distinct parts by three different stories with various tones. However, having a distinct personality for each movie may not always be a negative thing. While Halloween (2018) is dark and deep, Halloween Kills is more theatrical and occasionally verges on the absurd (which for many is a major criticism of the film). Halloween Ends has a lighter beginning than it does in the end, but it still has some of the most horrifying aspects of the novel.
Another departure Halloween Ends made from some of its predecessors was the notion that the killings weren’t merely random acts of violence. In the past, Michael Myers frequently broke into strangers’ homes or killed unarmed people in the street on his way to Laurie Strode. On the other side, Halloween Ends takes a different approach, making almost every murder purposeful, frequently as a result of Corey’s involvement. He is not the “embodiment of evil” like Michael Myers, therefore his killings are either revenge killings or organized massacres of those who have wronged him. It adopts a different tack to differentiate the plot from the traditional slashing featured in Halloween movies.
Even though Michael Myers rarely appears in this film, which makes their showdown in the climax feel a little anti-climatic for the series overall, at least it sets this one apart from the numerous others that came before it. Since so many franchises grow bogged down with the problem of having the same framework in every movie, to the point where they appear redundant, it was nice to see the Halloween franchise at least try to shake things up a little (even Marvel suffers from this at times).
Is it up to date? Yes. But is that the best way to end such a nice story? possibly not Both of these statements could be true at the same time. Halloween Ends’ complexity may make it more interesting to casual fans than to ardent series devotees. However, the film does a fantastic job of providing new content to enthusiasts, as opposed to merely compelling viewers to watch a movie they have already seen fifty times. After the failure that was Halloween Kills, it was good that the series took a step back and tried something new that, for the most part, worked.
