Annabelle Creation Movie Review : Why it sucks and why you shouldn't support cash cows like this

I was lucky enough to get a sneak preview screening of Annabelle: Creation earlier today and I was pumped up about it! I'm a fan of the series, and the previous installments did not disappoint!

A quick refresher for the new recruits, the movie is a prequel(prequels are a trend apparently)set 12 years before the the 2014 movie Annabelle. Yes that same doll that's been bewitched by demon(s) and is now currently residing safely with the Warrens(The couple from the Conjuring series). This movie will provide the missing links as to how the doll came to be, basically an origin story for you superhero geeks out there.

So without further ado!

In order to raise the bar for this review however, i will be placing some spoiler tags just before the opening statement in a paragraph to help you guys. You can skip those if you want.

The images used are all seen in the trailers so as not to spoil anyone.

Who'd want a doll that looks like that ANYWAY!?

Let's start with the Good shall we?

First off, it has an awful lot of good quality jump scares. From camera panning techniques and dramatic sound cues, you'll be at the edge of your seat for most of the film's running time. The jump scares were definitely top notch, and most will come without you knowing which somewhat a signature now in the series.

Second, it plays with seemingly mundane fears, plays tricks on you even when you get home. Not afraid of going up the stairs in the dark? Not afraid of doll houses are ya? Think again! The cinematography is as good as mainstream could get. The camera panning, the angles, the colors (A tad bit yellow), they will be eye candy.

Sadly that's where the good ends i suppose... Oh come on now, you didn't just scroll all the way down here to look for the good right? With my conclusion above, you must be itching to know what's wrong and if it's worth your money.

The BAD

First off, the good i mentioned above about jump scares is also the Film's BAD trait.
Lord save us from bad movies and reboots

There's a reason cheap and jump scares go well together because well, jump scares are indeed cheap scares. You can startle anyone even the bravest soul, but did you freak them out? The movie relied on this mechanic too much too many in the movie and it hurts. While the previous installments had its share, the tension and the build up on this one is lacking, most scares are even too cliche for their own good.

Second, they casted this girl, Lulu Wilson.
For hardcore horror fans out there, you probably recognize her from Ouija: Origin of evil.

While her acting in the movie is topnotch and deserves praise, so was her acting on Ouija. You could say her role there was nothing short of iconic(i'll leave it at that to avoid spoilers) Casting her for another movie with almost the same theme with her comprising almost the same role is a Producer's move i'm guessing. Can you imagine a mainstream actor be Legolas in Lord of the rings? or a young famous kid become harry potter instead of Daniel Radcliffe? Funny that I mentioned him since he too suffers the same fate as Lulu Wilson though he has worn off the Harry Potter series stigma somewhat, let's face it, people still see Harry Potter in this guy.

Third, the plot was too predictable and thin, even for a prequel. Everyone knew what was coming, and it did nothing to alleviate that with good storytelling. Instead we get a fairly linear story(with the exception of a few flashbacks) a slow first act, and several foreshadowing elements at the beginning which kinda creeps you out in a way but makes it predictable.

(Potential mild spoiler for Conjuring 1 and 2 inbound)
Fourth, the "Creature" or demon or whatever was underwhelming. It won't post images on your head while you sleep, it won't be a Valak nor would it be a Bathsheba. Combine that with cheap jump scares and you'll have a pretty forgettable movie. (End of spoiler)
Now what?!
You could say the Doll is creepy in itself, but that's why he had the 2014 movie Annabelle for!

Fifth, The characters lacked development which makes it hard to root for anyone. Aside from the two main girls, but even they were thin and no, being orphans doesn't excuse them.

You could remove 70% of them and you probably wouldn't even notice. heck i'll give a prize to the ones who can name them all

Sixth, Haphazard scenes caused a mess. The pace will be too fast at times, sometimes too slow. Pieced together in an ugly way, i bet there were a lot of deleted scenes which explains for the somewhat disjointed feels. Some scenes don't even provide value, there's even a scene where they shamelessly marketed the next movie! (The Nun) It tried to be a movie with a plot twist or surprised as it build through it's climax but poor storytelling did away with that. don't get me started with the plot holes.

Can't help but feel like this story line was squeezed to the limit, much like how Starbucks is expanding too fast it hurts them as a franchise. There really was nothing much to be had from this, no loose ends tied(the ending was somewhat okay however)

CONCLUSION? IT SUCKS. Watch it at your own risk or if you just want to have fun with friends. Not a worthy follow up at all, fails to reach even half of its potential. Watch it for thrills then forget about it. Stay at the end if you want to watch the two post credit scenes.

Producers like these think of people like sheep and movies with so much potential loses its value. Sure we have indie movies for that, but they can never match the budget and potential mainstream can provide, not to mention the audience share. Continuing our support for this will probably lead to more of the same in the future.. Hopefully not..