Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween

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Two boys named Sonny and Sam (played by Jeremy Ray Taylor and Caleel Harris respectively) go into an old abandoned house looking for junk. Inside they find an unfinished manuscript for the first Goosebumps book ever written, titled Haunted Halloween. The two unwittingly unleash Slappy the Dummy. When Slappy begins wreaking havoc, the two boys team up Sonny's older sister, Sarah (played by Madison Iseman) to stop the villainous dummy. So, I enjoyed this movie. It's not quite as good as the first movie. I wish Jack Black wasn't sidelined so much. Although the movie does seem to have some fun with how pointless he honestly ended up being in this movie. The mom character was kind of annoying. A lot of her jokes and punchlines just kind of fall flat and come off as awkward. Similar to the first movie, the effects aren't particularly strong. Similar to the first movie, again, Slappy is the one effect that really works. I also want to give props to voice actor Mick Wingert (who takes over the voice from Jack Black in the first movie). The guy is clearly having fun in the role, and is trying very hard. This movie is pretty short in the long run. I think this movie works as a solid-enough alternative to take the kids to for Halloween. The characters are pretty generic. You get a stock bully. The actors (particularly the main three and Jack Black) actually do a good job in the movie. I also enjoyed Ken Jeong in the movie as a neighbor who goes fanboy over Halloween. Some of the jokes are definitely in there for adults. For the record, there aren't a ton of them, and they are very hit and miss. I already mentioned that a lot of the jokes involving the mom didn't work for me. So, ultimately this movie had some good elements to it, and they definitely outweigh the bad elements in my opinion. The three main actors work for me. Jack Black works (as sidelined as he is). Ken Jeong is pretty entertaining in his supporting role. The voice actor for Slappy is a ton of fun, and the effects on him aren't half bad. The movie relishes in the spirit of Halloween, which I like. On the other hand, a lot of the effects are bad. Some of the jokes don't really land. The mom character was kind of annoying. Ultimately, while I liked this movie less than the first movie, my reactions were still pretty similar to the first movie. I enjoyed this movie on something of a guilty pleasure level despite its flaws.

6 / 10