Mitch’s Review: Halloween 2018

I watched David Gordon Green’s Halloween 2018

WAS I ENTERTAINED?

For the most part.

WHAT WORKED FOR ME?

Going into this film ignoring everything from Halloween II forward was a good idea for a starting point as it’s the correct way to bypass all the bad ideas this franchise has had to endure.

James Jude Courtney nails Michael Myers in a way that only Nick Castle and Vincente DiSanti have.

Including the Silver Shamrock masks without inserting “Silver Shamrock” in a heavy-handed and awkward manner was a good callback.

The Carpenter score is exquisite!

Keeping Michael’s unmasked face obscured was the right choice.

Michael’s brutality, even when merely hinted at, is good for the character, especially when he is unarmed.

Julian is the best character in this movie.

Karen’s bait-and-switch on Michael is fantastic and makes sense considering how she was raised and that she now knows that her mother, Laurie, was right to prepare.

WHAT DIDN’T WORK FOR ME?

The rehash movie titling convention has always and will always get on my nerves. Halloween: Wrath or Halloween: Rage Would have been perfectly suited for this film.

Judy Greer should not have been cast in this movie. I like her as an actress, but she’s just a bad fit and it feels like they just wanted to add Popular Actress Number 129 to the cast for marketing purposes. Plus at the time of release she was already over-saturating the market.

I can’t figure out why Podcaster-Man is yelling at Michael to “SAY SOMETHING,” as though there is a long history between them.

I’m struggling with Michael sensing the mask through The Force. It plays like it’s jammed into the film to generate oohs and aahs from the audience but it’s an inconsequential detail in the long term. In other words it’s false drama.

Going into this film ignoring everything from Halloween II forward was a good idea for a starting point as it’s the correct way to bypass all the bad ideas this franchise has had to endure, but they didn’t follow through in any meaningful way. In simple terms, they didn’t do much with the freshly-cleaned slate. This will become more apparent as the anthology proceeds.

Dr. Sartain is “The New Loomis.” Bad idea, lame dialogue. At least we don’t have to tolerate him past this film.

I’m bored with the Look How We’ve Turned The Tables By Having The Protagonist Do What The Antagonist Did In The Source Material trope. It’s stupid and we all saw it coming before the filmmaker thought they were being clever for doing it.

This is another rehash film in which the filmmaker is desperately telling the audience that he has seen the originals. For example, having Laurie refer to Michael as “The Shape” in a heavy-handed and awkward manner is a bad callback to something that was only ever a quirk in the credits.

“I got peanut butter on my penis.” ‘Nuff said!

Podcaster-Man refers to Michael as a “Serial Killer,” but if we eliminate all but the original film this description becomes inaccurate. “Spree Killer” is more appropriate.

Discount Ezra Miller. You know exactly who I’m talking about.

Incompetent cops are incompetent. At every turn.

Apart from Julian and Michael, every character in this movie is either useless, annoying, or mere fodder.

“Officer Hawkins” of the “Haddonfield Sheriff’s Department.” This is dialogue written by people who don’t know how things work. Try paying for decent writers.

The motion sensor-activated lights that turn on and off for script convenience.

No one seems to care that Ray, AKA Peanut Butter Dick, was killed.

WOULD I RECOMMEND?

In spite of my long list of things that didn’t work for me, yes, I would.

I’m self-aware enough to realize that not everyone shares my understanding of Michael Myers. I’m not saying it’s better, just different (It’s a bonus that I can back it up with evidence).

That being the case I wouldn’t dream of denying people the opportunity to enjoy this film if they so choose.