New soup on watered down broth...

Rating: 5/10 (10 September 2016)

As sequels go, then "The Conjuring 2" seems to fall into the same trap as many other movies do, and it didn't manage to surpass or live up to the first movie in the franchise.
That being said, don't get me wrong here. I am not saying that "The Conjuring 2" is a bad movie, it just didn't manage to reach the same level of intensity or be as scary as the first movie did. It does still have some impressive moments here and there.
The story is focusing on the actual 1970's Enfield haunting phenomena that revolved around the Hodgson family. However, "The Conjuring 2" is not the first movie to portray these disturbing events. And it did an adequate job in doing so, perhaps mostly because of the aid of the actors and actresses portraying the various characters. Storywise, then "The Conjuring 2" didn't bring anything new to the table.
Patrick Wilson really carries this movie quite nicely with his performance and portrayal of the Ed Warren character. And while he is not the one that the movie revolves around, he still steals the show to the point where he is the focal point.
The effects in "The Conjuring 2" were quite good, as they have to be in a ghost movie. A ghost or haunting movie without proper effects is an immediate killer to the movie. I will say that the special effects team here really did a good job, especially since the effects were doing what they were intended to do, and doing so without being flashy enough to steal away focus from the movie.
I was already familiar with the Enfield haunting story, so there was little new here. But still, director James Wan did manage to handle the story nicely.
As with the first movie, then it was nice to revisit the cellar of the Warren home. There are so many interesting pieces to be seen there, and a myriad of possible stories to be told on the screen.
While "The Conjuring 2" is not a groundbreaking movie, it is still enjoyable and entertaining enough for what it was. Just don't expect to be blown away. A fair enough continuation of the first movie, albeit it hardly did the first movie much justice.
My rating of "The Conjuring 2" is a mediocre five out of ten stars.