This is one of those sequels that pretty much pretends that the first movie never happened, which is good because I would like to pretend that the first movie never happened either. I mean, it was ok until the end, but the ending really pissed me off and that ruined the whole experience for me, so I was kinda excited about the idea of getting to see a new story with the creepy doll that has a chance to go back and be the movie that the first one should have been. So how was it?
In this movie, a mother and her son survive a terrifying burglary at their home and decide to move to the country and get out of the city. Unfortunately, there are some secrets buried in the woods outside their new home that are more dangerous than anything in the city. The son finds an incredibly creepy lifelike doll and trauma bonds with it so that soon he believes that the doll is the only one he can trust. His mother is increasingly freaked out by the doll and begins to believe that it is alive. Soon she realizes that her son is in danger of losing his very soul if she can't find a way to separate him from the evil doll.
For starters, this movie like the original, starts off really strong and hits you right from the beginning with the violent attack on the mmother and son in their own home. Anyone would be traumatized by that, and they certainly are, to the point where the son becomes a voluntary mute after the attack,, refusing to speak and communicating only through writing on a pad of paper. It's understandable that the family will want some time away after what happens, and the home in the country that they move to seems beautiful at first, until they go exploring in the woods and their son digs up an incredibly lifelike and also totally creepy doll and starts playing with it to the exclusion of all his other toys. He even begins speaking again, though he will only talk to the doll, and the parents decide this is a great idea and not at all horrifying (to be fair, they do consult a psychiatrist who tells them it's good that their son is talking to the doll, so it's not totally their fault).
This movie fulfills my wish for the first movie that they would stick with the idea that the doll is coming to life and not try to shoehorn in any other plot elements, but all is not perfect in movie sequel land. See, it's not so much that this movie pretends that the first one didn't exist, it actually retcons details from the first movie to weave it into a larger story, and it's when it starts doing this that things start to go off the rails. The first movie began to suffer when it got over-explainy with its plot and the second one marches right off the cliff in the same way when characters start giving long speeches delivering exposition. Until that point, it really is a creepy little movie, but it loses its wings when it tries to fly too close to the sun, and by the ending I was ready for the movie to be over with and stop throwing plot twists at me. Maybe this movie is just destined to be disappointing, or maybe they'll make a third one and get it right, who knows. This movie was better for me than the first, but still a dismal failure in the end.
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