Review of Insidious: Chapter 2 (2013) by Jacob G — 15 Apr 2014

Maybe my standards have dropped really low--after all, the ratings for this across the board have been rather mediocre--but I really thought this was a stellar followup.

It's not as scary as the first Insidious movie, but it does a really nice job of conveying the right atmosphere. This creepy atmosphere, mixed with the thought-out and textured plot, makes Chapter 2 a bang-up job.

It's a true sequel, taking place right after the ending of the first movie. All of the characters return, which is great because I loved a lot of them the first go-around.

While many of the scenes have a bit of a "been there, done that" feel to them, the story holds them together to keep Insidious from feeling like a one-trick pony.

That said, criticism that Chapter 2 shows too much aren't unfounded. The train of thought from the filmmakers was probably that they could get away with showing things shown in the first movie. This works on a plot level, but much less so on a scare level.

Which is all an around-the-bout way of saying that Insidious 2 is worth seeing if you're interested in plot and characters, but less worth seeing if you're into actual scares.