Can't live up to the powerful original

Rating: 6/10 (9 June 2016)

Usually when you go to see a horror sequel it's the villain/monster that you're being treated to another viewing of. 'The Conjuring 2' is a rare exception where it is the protagonists who are the constant. Sadly, this equals less guarantee of quality, because it's unlikely that they are what made the first one great. 'The Conjuring' was a brilliant horror film. The intensity, story and thrills were all of the highest quality and the result was one of the finest horror films ever made. So the sequel had a lot to live up to. Could it do it? Not quite.
The first thing you'll notice is an extended run time. 133 minutes is long for a horror movie. A lot of time is spent setting the mood, with a very patient build up taking place. For me this could have been cut back a bit, as it was a little slow at times and one or two scenes felt unnecessary. James Wan is a fantastic director who usually paces a film exquisitely, so I suspect this had more do with the script than anything else.
The main thing it lacks that the original achieved so well though, is a genuine concern for the characters in the film. The spooky, middle of nowhere, atmosphere created in the original is nowhere to found here, and that takes away a lot of intensity from the film. The characters of 'Ed' and 'Lorraine' also feel too in charge this time around, and are portrayed more as heroes than regular people. This also goes a long way to destroying the level of discomfort the audience should be experiencing.
There are some good frights here and there and some genuinely creepy visuals, but it all feels short of the high expectations the original created. And that sums it up in a lot of ways, it's not a bad film, it just can't live up to what we had all hoped for.