#80 - IT Chapter 2 (A Strange Halloween 3)

Derry Maine is an odd town

Perfect for Pennywise the clown

He feeds on fear, the stories claim

As he pulls your carcass down the drain

A group of kids, resolute and bold

Change the way the story’s told

A losers’ club combats the fear

And vow to fight should IT reappear

Now the second half of the tale

They may be older, but hardly frail

The fight renewed, the club reconvene

It’s IT Chapter 2 on A Strange Halloween

It's been a good few years since IT Chapter 1 graced the cinema, when we didn't have to worry for our lives paying the place a visit

We were teased with a sequel as it began and with it making all the money, the sequel was inevitably greenlit. And it was given a larger budget, $79m, more than double the budget of the original.

But it seems there were some cutbacks when it came to writing, the original had 3 writers, Chase Palmer, Cary Fukunaga and Gary Dauberman, only Gary Dauberman returned to write the sequel.

The film made $473.1m at the box office, which is profitable but not even close to the $700m chapter 1 made, and the critical reception was more mixed and for good reason. And it’s on Rage4Media so you can guess which side of the divide I fall on. But why? Let’s take a look and find out.

A Strange Halloween 3 - Stranger Things Season 3 Episodes 7-8

Dangers approach as we come to the end

No sign that anything’s on the mend

The gate may be pierced but it’s only ajar

And Russian security got them only so far. 

Hopper’s an outlaw, through corruption and greed

He’s called in a favour to help them succeed

But only half of the tale does he know

As Billy has something deadly in tow 

The Mind Flayer has mind for revenge on El

And his plan is succeeding, the past stories tell

Nothing good can come of this scheme

As it comes to pass on A Strange Halloween

 

We’re about to wrap up this month’s Stranger Things run, and things are looking pretty grim for our heroes with them being squeezed on both fronts, how will they get out of this one? Let’s take a look.

Netflix Retrospective - Voltron: Legendary Defender Season 8 episodes 4-6

I accidentally posted the previous Strange Halloween reviews a week early, so to allow for the 2 Halloween reviews to drop next week, here's the review I missed.

We’re taking another look at Voltron, thus far the team has faced the challenge of restoring to a universe in disarray whilst Honerva is ready to send more of the robeasts after them.

#79 Dumbo (Disney Remake Marathon)

OK, of all the films to give to Tim Burton, why this one?

I get giving Tim Burton another Disney remake, much as his Alice remake sucks, like a lot, it did make a lot of money for Disney and this was likely in production before Disney found out about the long-term damage it caused with the failure of Into the Looking Glass. But Tim Burton is more a visual director, he has a unique style and Dumbo, it’s a fairly simplistic tale.

But it’s not just Burton here, who did they get to write this? Ehren Kruger? OK, what’s his history?

Oh… Oh no!

The film had a quite substantial $170m budget, a decision Disney would live to regret as it made a $350m at the box office. With marketing costs factored in, the film needed a $500m win to break even, so the film lost money.

The animated Dumbo is perplexing and very much a production of its time, not just because of its unfortunate ethnic stereotypes. The film had a very low budget, partly attributed to the financial failure of Fantasia and partly to the war closing the European market, and it shows. Where the animators didn’t need to put in the detail, the detail isn’t there. That said, the main story focus is charming and it’s mostly harmless. How do they ruin that here, well let’s take a look.

A Strange Halloween 3 - Stranger Things Season 3 Episodes 5-6 (Netflix Retrospective)

It seems that Hawkins will never see rest

As Billy failed the sauna test

The Mind Flayer returns, an army at call

And chemicals, it seems to want them all 

Nancy and Jonathan investigate

But problems they seem to instigate

Fired from their paper, their romance askew

But maybe their boss is not who they knew 

Joyce and Hopper check out the lab

It seems derelict, abandoned and drab

But a knockoff Terminator follows their feet

As a Russian scientist they happen to meet 

Dustin and Steve with Robin in tow

Sneak into a lift, how low will it go?

Erica with them, a green vial found

Only trouble can ensue with that around

The Lab and The Flayer, two threats at the door

Corrupt Mayors and scientists we must not ignore

One could hope that it’s only a dream

But it’s all come to pass on A Strange Halloween

Disney Remake Marathon - Beauty and the Beast

Tale as old as time

True as it can be

Barely even friends

Then somebody bends

Unexpectedly

Just a little change

Small to say the least

Both a little scared

Neither one prepared

Beauty and the Beast

Today’s Disney Live action remake is Beauty and the Beast, the first of the more modern Disney films to get the live action treatment. The original Disney Beauty and the Beast came out in the early 90s, this came out in 2017, only just over 20 years later, both versions are firmly remembered by people, even fondly so in some cases.   

In the director’s chair for this one is Bill Condon, who’d recently directed the Breaking Dawn Twilight movies. For balance I should also mention he directed Mr Holmes which I quite liked.

The film had quite a large budget, sources vary but it could well be as high as $250m, but the big investment paid off, with another $1bn hit. It seems as though no matter how much folks on the internet complain about remakes, they go out to see them anyway. We’ll see what happens when Mulan eventually makes it out to cinema [this joke was written before Mulan ended up becoming a Disney+ exclusive].

The film was successful critically but it’s been subject to some rather damning deconstruction post-release that this will be a part of.

The original Beauty and the Beast is a classic for a reason and it holds up rather well. The one song you remember from it is really good, the voice acting and the animation is at the high quality of Disney in the 90’s renaissance era.

A Strange Halloween 3 - Stranger Things Season 3 Episodes 3-4 (Netflix Retrospective)

Starcourt Mall, shiny and bold

Has shattered relationships, so I am told

Billy was a lifeguard, became a prophet

And Downtown stores aren’t making a profit

Hopper is upset his date didn’t show

As magnets stop, how? We don’t know

A radio message, a code in disguise

An enemy, Russian, one to despise 

But old threats are not out the game

Billy and his army of rats are to blame

The Mind Flayer is back, weak but still mean

We continue this plight on A Strange Halloween 

If that sounded a bit scatter-brained that’s only because that describes the last two episodes perfectly, still, they’ve scattered an entertaining series of clues for us to be engaged by along with some teen relationship drama. Let’s see how things continue…

Disney Remake Marathon - The Jungle Book

Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book is clearly a favourite among Disney execs, despite them not owning exclusive rights to it. It got the animated treatment in 1967 and has had 3 live action films, one in 1994, another a mere 4 years later, and of course the big budget one in 2016.

Jon Favreau is at the Director’s helm for this one, he was the director of the first 2 Iron Man films so had some clout with Disney, not to mention experience handling special effects. He would later be one of the creators of the one bit of Disney Star Wars material that isn’t horribly divisive in the Mandalorian.

The film needed a sizeable budget to accommodate all the CG necessary for this production, and got $175m, the film made $966m at the box office and was well acclaimed by critics at the time of release.

The 1967 animated feature came after production budgets for animated features were slashed across the board, and this is very obvious in the film, a lot of animation is recycled and some of the faster-paced stuff looks like it has frames missing. It’s unfortunate as this one is somewhat reliant on cartoon slapstick, something that requires a fast pace. That said, the two songs you remember are just as entertaining, they have remembered how sound-effects work with the impacts feeling like they have impact now, the voice cast is on-point and the painted backdrops are beautiful to behold.

A Strange Halloween 3 - Stranger Things Season 3 Episodes 1-2 (Netflix Retrospective)

A lot can happen in a small town

When it’s connected to the upside-down

What began as a search for a lost child;

Became a horror show, deadly and wild 

Though the child in end was found

There still was danger around

And through the course of season 2

That threat began to rise anew 

Pushed back by force, its portal gone

A girl adopted; time moves on

But one summer will prove far from serene

For it’s Stranger Things on A Strange Halloween

It’s been a while since we last looked at Stranger Things. Season 3 was released in the summer of 2019. The trailers had bigged up a new shopping mall built in town of Hawkins, Starcourt. But there was very little plot actually teased, only the notion that Will wasn’t going to be put through the mill again this season. So with that in mind, let’s take a look at Stranger Things season 3 and see if lived up to the hype.

Disney Remake Marathon - Cinderella

Whilst Alice in Wonderland’s billion-dollar success got the ball rolling for live action Disney Remakes with big budgets and big actors, we wouldn’t see another one until 2014, with Maleficent, but I’m not covering Maleficent as part of this Marathon, as it doesn’t share its name with the original. Perhaps another time. With 2015 came of the remake of Cinderella, another adaptation of a book, maybe there’s a pattern here 

At the directors helm this time is Kenneth Branagh, who has certainly a mixed history with me. I liked his Murder on the Orient Express, was underwhelmed but not entirely displeased with Thor and then came Artemis Fowl… I don’t really need to say anymore, do I? Stay tuned for that review in 2021/2022.

The film didn’t have the budget of Tim Burton’s Alice, mostly because this shouldn’t need to create expansive worlds using special effects and made about $500m at the box office, a reasonable success for the house of mouse.

The original is another movie I’d describe as a 20-minute short stretched over 75 minutes. But with this it’s far easier to identify exactly what could’ve been cut. The cat and mouse chase scenes. Looney Tunes and MGM’s Tom and Jerry had cornered the market in this regard and their slapstick was lacklustre, missing the timing and sound of the true slapstick greats. But does the 2015 improve on this? Let’s take a look