Review of Halloween Ends

It is disappointing to admit this, but David Gordon Green's version of the Michael Myers/Halloween saga should have probably ended after the release of Halloween 2018. In fact, I would go so far as to say that they should have increased the running time of H-'18 to about 120-130 minutes (from the actual running time of approximately 105 minutes), and then made H-2018 the only sequel in the series...a film that acted as a true continuation of, and a fitting conclusion to the 1978 masterpiece helmed by John Carpenter. Or, perhaps it could have been a 180 minute film, divided into two parts (released in consecutive years)...the second part being a continuation of the events that would have been very different from the existing sequel of Halloween Kills. Instead, we got a film (H-18) with an incredibly strong first half, and a second half that began to fall off the rails a bit. However, it was still a very good film. Then came Kills and Ends. The former was disappointing. The latter was monumentally disappointing. It seems pretty clear that, after H-'18, the filmmakers didn't really know where to go to continue the story. So they added a lot of filler material as justification for making two more films. I won't go into details regarding Kills since this is a review for Ends. However, here are a couple examples: First, Kills seemed redundant in multiple ways. An example would be how Laurie was, in large part, sidelined for much of the movie. And so was Hawkins. But the film keeps returning to both of them as they're laid up in a hospital room, and most of that time all they're doing is...conversing. Yep...that's right. They're talking to each other. While Michael is wreaking havoc all around the town, Laurie and Hawkins, two of the best characters in the film, are, quite literally, on the sidelines. Kills also seemed redundant in that people kept repeating their intentions, over and over (and if you've seen the movie, then you know what I'm talking about), while failing to accomplish said intentions. Needless to say, evil did not die that night. Fast forward to 2022, and we come to the events in Ends. First, a few positives: Ends did have a good beginning, a pretty good conclusion, and the acting was very good. In fact, this is the best performance Jamie Lee Curtis has given in a very long time, and maybe of her entire career. There are only three reasons Ends is worth someone's time. The beginning, the end, and Jamie Lee Curtis. The cinematography was quite good, and most of the actors are definitely giving their all. However, the story and screenplay are where this film falters. And boy, does this film falter. And that brings me to the negatives:

• Michael has very little screen time in Ends. In fact, I would be surprised if he was in this film for even 10 minutes. And yes, he was only in the original for about 15-17 minutes. But that made sense. John Carpenter knew that it's best to leave the unknown...well, unknown...at least, for as long as possible. But that was the first introduction everyone and anyone had into the cinematic universe of the Halloween films. Plus, H-'78 was Laurie's film. Ends should have been both Laurie and Michael's film. It really wasn't. In fact, the character who is most focused on in Ends is a character no one has ever seen before. It is mind boggling that they would introduce a character of the magnitude of Corey Cunningham in the last film of, what's supposed to be a cohesive series of films.

• Corey Cunningham as the lead just does not make sense. Especially considering the fact that he doesn't make it to the end. There really isn't enough time for the audience to care about him, and if the point was to have someone carry on as the "new" Michael Myers, then why in the world would you kill his character towards the end?

• The narrative is disjointed. The beginning and the ending are good. But the in-between is a convoluted mess. It just doesn't make sense. The relationship between Allyson and Corey is not even remotely believable. Much of that has to do with a glaring lack of chemistry. And then there are other characters who should have been seen more and should have been more involved, but weren't (i.e. Michael, Hawkins, Lindsey). In fact, speaking of chemistry, the two characters who did have chemistry were Laurie and Hawkins. And yet they have very little screen time together.

• Missed opportunities, in my opinion. There were multiple, but I'll just focus on one (and yes, I know this is my opinion). For a while now, I, and many others, wanted to see the character of podcaster Aaron Korey again. However, naysayers kept on reminding everyone that there was no way he could have survived his brutal beating at the hands of Michael Myers. Why did people want to see him again? Because his character had depth, and that was impressive, considering he was only in H-'18 for a handful of scenes. For whatever reason, audiences were drawn to his character. Bringing him back for Ends would have provided the opportunity for a deep character study. To see how his opinions have changed about Michael Myers could have been quite compelling. How does he feel now? What does he think about, possibly being the one who resparked Michael's appetite for causing death and destruction? And knowing his lover was killed by the hands of that maniacal monster...does he wish for revenge now? Does he believe in the boogeyman now? Will he join Laurie and others in brining Myers to a final justice? Or will he become the copycat, with a desire to inflict the physical and emotional pain that was inflicted on him? Instead, the character they bring back, that almost everyone believed was dead was the character of Sondra? What the hell? How did she survive her attack? And since she was brought back, why relegate her to what amounts to a minor intriguing, yet fleeting thought? What a wasted opportunity. And to those naysayers who said Aaron couldn't have survived, I say this: if Sondra survived, then Aaron Korey could have survived. One last missed opportunity: In my opinion, Michael should have been alive when he was disposed of in the grinder. Maybe paralyzed but alive.

H-Ends, in my opinion, was monumentally disappointing. Now we are at the conclusion of Green and McBride's version of this story, and it seems like their heart and soul was definitely seen in H-'18, but not so much in Kills and Ends. If I'm being honest, it's almost like the attention to detail that was evident in H-'18, was gone by the time Ends was in pre-production. Maybe it was the delay that was caused by the pandemic. After all, originally Kills was supposed to be released in 2020, and Ends in 2021. By the end of last year, David Gordon Green was supposed to be half way home on his continuation/sequel of The Exorcist. It would be quite understandable if distractions multiplied along the way. There is still no excuse for this mess. It almost reminds me of what happened to the Star Wars sequel trilogy. But that epic mess was largely the result of too many cooks in the kitchen, who all had the freedom to go their own way. And while Ends did have 4 screenwriters, the main core of Green and McBride were in this project from the beginning to the end. I guess that's why it's so disappointing. Once again, at the end of one of the most classic cinematic franchises ever, many of us, instead of thinking "Oh, what an awesome ending," are left, instead, thinking "Oh, what might have been." But hey...that's just my opinion.