The Conjuring 2

The Conjuring 2 once again follows Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) as they reluctantly agree to investigate a possible haunting, with their latest case involving a low-income British family that’s been plagued by a seemingly malevolent demon. It’s an undeniably familiar premise that’s perpetuated by filmmaker James Wan’s reliance on cheap scares and flabby pacing, with, in terms of the latter, the movie’s patently absurd 134 minute running time resulting in a decidedly (and dramatically) erratic atmosphere (ie the film is often as tedious as it is engrossing). There’s little doubt that the script’s bloated tendencies are most apparent in The Conjuring 2‘s almost insanely padded-out first half, as the emphasis is, for the most part, placed on the aforementioned family’s spectral shenanigans and their ongoing attempts at battling their demon(s) – with the supposed protagonists, Ed and Lorraine, left cooling their heels in America until around the one-hour mark. It’s clear, then, that the movie improves substantially once the Warrens arrive on the scene, with the inclusion of a few better-than-expected sequences certainly elevating the viewer’s interest on a continuing basis. (There is, for example, an absolute showstopper of an interlude wherein Ed interrogates a young girl inhabited by a nasty being, with the scene unfolding in a single, completely riveting take.) The watchable atmosphere begins to wane steadily, however, as The Conjuring 2 enters its almost ludicrously protracted third act, with the movie reaching a point at which it could naturally end and then progressing for a completely anticlimactic additional half hour or so – thus confirming the film’s place as a passable yet hopelessly bloated big-budget sequel (ie Wan is clearly not a big believer in the less-is-more concept).

**1/2 out of ****