The original Halloweentown movie was... I don't want to say it was bad, because it was fun, if extremely cheesy. But it also barely had anything in the way of a storyline -- Halloweentown didn't establish its villain until the last 15-20 minutes of the movie, and his defeat came pretty quickly.
Halloweentown II is much, much, much heavier on the plot, hinting at its villain in the movie's very first scene. Unfortunately, it's somehow way cheesier than the first movie, too, borderlining on being cringeworthy at times.
Again, just like the first movie, it's for kids, so I understand that it doesn't have to be a super-serious drama. But the first Halloweentown had a real sense of fun to it -- instead of a plot, it filled the movie with weird monsters and fun costumes, something that really nailed the Halloween spirit. Halloweentown II gets rid of a lot of that stuff, on purpose, in service of its story. The most complex costumes you see for a lot of this movie are fake elf ears and a rubber nose. You could call this movie "Arbordaytown" and it would be almost functionally identical.
The story is whatever, too -- it's all over the place, where characters have the power to solve all of their problems, but refuse to use those powers for the sake of a convenient plot. There's a big race against a countdown timer, despite the fact that time travel becomes involved in the story. What's the hurry? Can't they just go back to a point before the countdown is a problem? Even as a kid I could identify plot holes like this.
And then there are the ancillary characters. The first movie's annoying little brother (Dylan) has thankfully grown up and chilled out, but other characters are obnoxious in similar ways. Take the mother, who comes dangerously close to espousing a "magic isn't real" line of thought in a movie where pretty much the entire central cast can (and does) use magic constantly. Her anti-magic sentiment just doesn't make sense, and much like the time travel plot hole, feels like a contrivance to pad out the story. She only acts irrationally because that gives the heroes another problem to solve, but it feels super hollow.
It's pretty lukewarm, overall. A bigger focus on plot is welcome, but it comes at the cost of a lot of what made the first Halloweentown fun and memorable. I have to wonder how many kids would actually enjoy this.
Halloweentown II is much, much, much heavier on the plot, hinting at its villain in the movie's very first scene. Unfortunately, it's somehow way cheesier than the first movie, too, borderlining on being cringeworthy at times.
Again, just like the first movie, it's for kids, so I understand that it doesn't have to be a super-serious drama. But the first Halloweentown had a real sense of fun to it -- instead of a plot, it filled the movie with weird monsters and fun costumes, something that really nailed the Halloween spirit. Halloweentown II gets rid of a lot of that stuff, on purpose, in service of its story. The most complex costumes you see for a lot of this movie are fake elf ears and a rubber nose. You could call this movie "Arbordaytown" and it would be almost functionally identical.
The story is whatever, too -- it's all over the place, where characters have the power to solve all of their problems, but refuse to use those powers for the sake of a convenient plot. There's a big race against a countdown timer, despite the fact that time travel becomes involved in the story. What's the hurry? Can't they just go back to a point before the countdown is a problem? Even as a kid I could identify plot holes like this.
And then there are the ancillary characters. The first movie's annoying little brother (Dylan) has thankfully grown up and chilled out, but other characters are obnoxious in similar ways. Take the mother, who comes dangerously close to espousing a "magic isn't real" line of thought in a movie where pretty much the entire central cast can (and does) use magic constantly. Her anti-magic sentiment just doesn't make sense, and much like the time travel plot hole, feels like a contrivance to pad out the story. She only acts irrationally because that gives the heroes another problem to solve, but it feels super hollow.
It's pretty lukewarm, overall. A bigger focus on plot is welcome, but it comes at the cost of a lot of what made the first Halloweentown fun and memorable. I have to wonder how many kids would actually enjoy this.