At the title implies this is a sequel to the 2015 movie Goosebumps which
had two teens working together to stop author R.L. Stine's creations after they
are set free from his books. This time its three teens working together to stop
author R.L. Stine's creations after they are set from a book. Sonny (Jeremy Ray
Taylor) and Sam (Caleel Harris) are the typical kids in the movie that are
bullied by the popular kid and his gang of misfits. On the side to start
earning some money for themselves, Sonny and Sam, start a junk cleaning
business (yes, they do go there with the puns) when they are called to clean an
old abandoned house that once belonged to famed young adult horror writer R.L.
Stine. Finding a secret room, they open a trunk that contains an unfinished
manuscript from the legendary author that frees Slappy the puppet. The movie
takes in a small town in New York that was once a testing ground for a large
electric testing tower for Nikola Tesla, Slappy is out to bring the elements
and characters of Halloween to life setting out to start a family of his own.
The two boys joined by Sonny's old sister, Sarah (Madison Iseman) to stop
Slappy from using Tesla's tower to magnify his magical powers of being able to
bring Halloween to life permanently. It's a very basic sequel story to the
original that sees many of the same characters once again running amok in the
real world. Jack Black reprises his role of R.L. Stine briefly towards the end
of the movie, do not go see this thinking he has as large apart in this as he
did in the original if you’re looking for some Jack Black humor. This is one
that I would say is a hard pass on the theatrical experience unless you have
kids that are die-hard Goosebumps fans or begging to see it
after enjoying the original. This is one that feels created for the direct to
DVD and streaming market, but, is being release because of its tie-in to
Halloween. I did get a little bored with it about half way through its 90-minute
runtime which made it feel longer that was largely due to it hitting the
checkboxes of this type of family film and many beats of the first movie which
is very briefly mentioned in one scene. If you are looking for a decent family
Halloween theater experience and have a slightly older child, I recommend
choosing The House with A Clock in Its Walls the other Halloween
movie that recently came out with Jack Black that is still playing in many
theaters. For myself this sequel just didn't do anything that enhanced the
first movie and the storyline is very basic with characters that I had no
emotional connection to. I would wait for next year and check it out when it's
on streaming or they release a movie 2-pack and you want to create a Halloween
movie night for the family at home with some snacks from the store that won't
break your wallet after you had to pay admission for yourselves and/or
children. C. I apologize for the briefness of this review as I write this we are getting ready to leave for a small family vacation to the Florida Keys.
After movie I went to my new go
to Milkshake place, Vivoli, at Disney Springs where I see most of my movies and
had their featured shake of the month the Chocolate Cauldron. Which I quite
enjoyed as their chocolate is not overly strong combined with the white
chocolate waffle cone made it quite enjoyable on a hot afternoon. I probably
would not necessarily get this one again as I do not love chocolate on a
regular basis.
