Wishmaster 2: Evil Never Dies
1/4
Starring: Holly Fields, Andrew Divoff, Paul Johansson, Oleg Vidov
Rated R for Horror Violence and Gore, Strong Language and Some Sexuality
The only reason I watched "Wishmaster 2: Evil Never Dies" is because it came on a double disk with the original, not because the first was any good. While that on had its share of cheap laughs, this sequel is a waste of time. It's deadly boring, and it completely disregards the first one.
Morgana (Fields) is stealing some artwork from a gallery with a few of her friends, including Eric (Chris Weber). The robbery is botched, and the others (including Eric and two security guards) are murdered. But during the shootout, the statue of Ahura Mazda from the first film is damaged and the fire opal falls out. The Djinn has retaken the human form of Nathaniel Demerest (Divoff) and turned himself in to the police. He claims sole credit for the robbery and the murders. But there's a method to this madness: he needs 1,001 souls in order to get the three wishes from the person who released him (which is Morgana) and release all the djinn upon the world. Now it's up to Morgana and her priest friend, Gregory (Johansson) to save the day.
While it would be wrong to say that Alex Amberson, played by the bland Tammy Lauren in the first film, was interesting or sympathetic, the character is both compared to Morgana and Gregory. I didn't care about either one of them (the only one I did care about was Eric, but like in the first one, the film makes the mistake of killing off the most interesting character early on).
The acting is not the film's strong point. Under better circumstances, I suppose Holly Fields could be at least an adequate actress, but with the pathetic material she's been given, there's nothing Meryl Streep could do with it (Streep would have the good sense to run the other way if it was offered to her, but never mind. Still, the thought of someone like Streep in a gorefest like this sounds kind of groovy). Her co-star, Paul Johansson, can't even get that faint of praise. He looks like a deer caught in the headlights, and would probably be turned down on a soap opera. Andrew Divoff is back, once again playing one of the blandest monsters in Hollywood history.
I'm not against changing the rules in a horror movie, especially since they were so thin in the original. Plus, having to make the djinn steal 1,001 souls means more inventive kills and bloodletting, right? Nope. Unlike most horror movie sequels (as stated by Randy Meeks in "Scream 2"), there's less carnage in this sequel. That means there's more time spent with the badly acted characters babbling over the silly formulaic plot instead of giving audiences what they're paying to see. I mean, no one sees a "Wishmaster" movie to get scared, right?
Starring: Holly Fields, Andrew Divoff, Paul Johansson, Oleg Vidov
Rated R for Horror Violence and Gore, Strong Language and Some Sexuality
The only reason I watched "Wishmaster 2: Evil Never Dies" is because it came on a double disk with the original, not because the first was any good. While that on had its share of cheap laughs, this sequel is a waste of time. It's deadly boring, and it completely disregards the first one.
Morgana (Fields) is stealing some artwork from a gallery with a few of her friends, including Eric (Chris Weber). The robbery is botched, and the others (including Eric and two security guards) are murdered. But during the shootout, the statue of Ahura Mazda from the first film is damaged and the fire opal falls out. The Djinn has retaken the human form of Nathaniel Demerest (Divoff) and turned himself in to the police. He claims sole credit for the robbery and the murders. But there's a method to this madness: he needs 1,001 souls in order to get the three wishes from the person who released him (which is Morgana) and release all the djinn upon the world. Now it's up to Morgana and her priest friend, Gregory (Johansson) to save the day.
While it would be wrong to say that Alex Amberson, played by the bland Tammy Lauren in the first film, was interesting or sympathetic, the character is both compared to Morgana and Gregory. I didn't care about either one of them (the only one I did care about was Eric, but like in the first one, the film makes the mistake of killing off the most interesting character early on).
The acting is not the film's strong point. Under better circumstances, I suppose Holly Fields could be at least an adequate actress, but with the pathetic material she's been given, there's nothing Meryl Streep could do with it (Streep would have the good sense to run the other way if it was offered to her, but never mind. Still, the thought of someone like Streep in a gorefest like this sounds kind of groovy). Her co-star, Paul Johansson, can't even get that faint of praise. He looks like a deer caught in the headlights, and would probably be turned down on a soap opera. Andrew Divoff is back, once again playing one of the blandest monsters in Hollywood history.
I'm not against changing the rules in a horror movie, especially since they were so thin in the original. Plus, having to make the djinn steal 1,001 souls means more inventive kills and bloodletting, right? Nope. Unlike most horror movie sequels (as stated by Randy Meeks in "Scream 2"), there's less carnage in this sequel. That means there's more time spent with the badly acted characters babbling over the silly formulaic plot instead of giving audiences what they're paying to see. I mean, no one sees a "Wishmaster" movie to get scared, right?
Comments
Post a Comment