Yes, the hype is real. The Nun II manages to be an improvement over the first. From the way every shot looks to how the scares are presented, it’s much better this time around. In terms of its plot, its as generic as it gets and doesn’t off much.

Right off the bat, I noticed how much I admired the cinematography this time around. The way it is shot is spooky, yet it’s easy to follow the camera and admire nearly every shot. I think what was even more presented is truly how scary it can get without the use of jump scares. The camera either chooses to slowly pan to a disturbing image or shows it in a blurry manner. As much as I don’t care for jump scares as much as the next person, what makes them so effective here is how unpredictable they are. Even when you’re anticipating it, it either takes a little longer to get there or wastes no time getting there. The beginning, alley way and the hideout scenes are definitely the highlights to look for here.

What makes this film drop in quality is how generic the plot is and how it chooses to forget about certain characters for the sake of the plot. For example, there is a character that gets killed off somewhere in the beginning and no one manages to mention it, even though it’s an important piece to the story. Everyone just forgets it. There is also a character towards the end that gets severely hurt. Once again, it is forgotten about. So, the question has to be asked: Why do these type of scenes need to occur if there are only for shock value and do nothing to advance the plot? The plot is also very much a remake of the first. We spend considerable amount of time with characters researching. Wasn’t this done in the first? It’s lazy things like this with the writing that seem to only be done to beef up the runtime.

I wasn’t also the biggest fan of the ending. The director added that he added more gore due to prior test screenings and it shows. The climax goes on for too long and looks like a CGI action-fest. Whenever I thought it was over, it just kept going and going. The particular sequence made me question the way certain scenes were shot before. It’s located in a place where I was like, “Oh, that’s where it is?” Sound stages are, of course, okay if done right. Here, it lacks in developing the appropriate establishing shots to better understand where the characters are. Lastly, the mid-credits scene made more annoyed than excited, because it does nothing to advance the greater story of this universe.

Overall, this is an improvement over the first on a nearly every single technical aspect; however, the latest entry feels more like do-over for the first due to the once-again generic plot.

VERDICT: 3/5 (Good)