Friday, October 5, 2018

Quick Review: Tales from the Hood 2

After a long absence, a Cult Classic is given a Sequel.  Will it be worth it (for a change)?  Let's see...
In the Film's Framing Device, a Weapons Manufacturer hires a Storyteller (Keith David) to do his thing with a Robot designed for Policing.

It's a weird premise, but go with it.
In 'Good Golly,' a teen and her friend visit a Museum dedicated to the History of Racism to...buy a doll.

Yeah, so I learned a new thing about humanity's Racist past.  Thanks, Film...I think.
The doll gets loose when they go to steal it the next day and, well, I won't SPOIL the Ending.
In 'The Medium,' some criminals need the help of a (fake) psychic to locate some money to steal.
In 'Date Night,' some guys plan to exploit two ladies they met online.  Naturally, it gets turned around on them.
In 'Emmet Till,' a Black Republican must face the ghosts of Civil Rights past in order to save his baby.

I won't lie- this one feels very different from the rest.  You can decide whether or not that is good.
To wrap up the Story (who's name I won't SPOIL), the now-ready Robot is revealed and, of course, all of the Stories make it act unexpectedly.  The End.
Better than I expected, which is always nice.  I'm obviously not the main target Demo for this Movie.  That said, I still liked it quite a bit.  Starting at the beginning, the Framing Device is...odd.  I know that it leads to an obvious turn, but it's still weird.  The first Story is probably my favorite, since I love any Story that can introduce a new, interesting Monster.  The creature is similar to other ones, but with a nice twist or too that I liked.  The 2nd Story is good, but not quite as much.  The pacing is a bit odd as it sticks with one Scene straight through and then jarringly jumps to a very different one.  Yes, it does introduce the guy that connects the two parts for the Finale, but I legit got confused by this.  The 3rd Story is good, even if the twist is a bit obvious.  It is the closest thing the Film gets to being like Creepshow 3.  I still liked it though, even if the whole Sexual Predators and Predators comparison is on the nose.  The 4th Story is the strongest in terms of emotion and sincerity, but also feel the least like it belongs here.  The wrap-up has no big twist, but is still a satisfying conclusion.  All in all, the Film- like any Anthology- has stronger and weaker parts, but works as a whole.  I'm still not sure how we got 'Guy tells Stories to train a Robot' as the Plot, but oh well.  The game even manages to work in a quick plug in the 3rd Story...
A fun, inventive Anthology Film that touched all of the bases for me.  The last Story feels a bit out of place, but I don't think that it ruined the Film at all.

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