James Jude Courtney is pretty overrated as Michael. Michael is meant to be creepy, and stealthy in how he acts. In 2018 he was ok, and had some moments that seemed Nick Castle like. However in Halloween Kills He acted more like Jason.
I think that’s more to do with the writing than anything else. I think JJC is a good Myers! I think he really nails it and I can actually believe he’s the same Myers from 78 (if you look past the height difference).
The writing in Halloween 2018 and Kills are terrible in terms of Halloween 1978. They stated they were ‘going back to the roots of the first film’ when Halloween 2018 was announced. I’m not sure what they meant by that, but I was sure thinking we was going to get the 78 shape who stalks and plays hide and seek type of games with the victims which drag out until he gets them closer and closer and then pounces. We didn’t get that. In fact, I’m not sure what we got at all that ‘went back to the roots’ a part from bringing back legacy characters. It was only until Kills that they even brought back the blue lighting.
IMO, they made a big mistake getting David Gordon Green and Danny Mcbride to write and direct the films. They’re good films in terms of a comparison against (5,6,H20 & Resurrection). But honestly DGG and DM seem more like casual Halloween fans. I think if it was someone that really knew what made Halloween 1978 the greatest of all time, we would have gotten everything the fans have been craving since that first film. Actually, I think Halloween 2 1981 is the best sequel ever. It’s a very slow and boring movie admittedly, but honestly if you never told me it wasn’t John Carpenter directing, I would have sworn it was. I honestly can’t tell the two films apart. Hats off to Rick Rosenthal for making Halloween 2 a really believable film that it literally was straight after the first. I would suggest Rick Rosenthal would have been a good choice, but after Halloween Resurrection, I would say he’s lost his touch with that…
Perhaps we should just be grateful for Halloween 1978 and 1981 and stop hoping to get better than that. This was our last chance to do anything, all the legacy characters are too old including Michael and I think 2018 and Kills really missed the last opportunity to really do it right again.
Yeah, I believe it was when The Shape (Dick Warlock) bumps into the kid with the radio (Dick warlock’s son). But even then, that scene doesn’t stand out at all and fits perfectly with the rest of the film under Rick’s direction. It goes to show how well Rick Rosenthal did on Halloween 2 and just captured the atmosphere of the first.
I think he also directed the scene of Alice getting killed as well.
By the way I think H20 is pretty good. I’m not a big fan of the warm color grading, or the music, and I wish they didn’t show his eyes so much. But I think they nailed everything else. Also I think Chris Durand is pretty underrated as Michael, his movements really reminded me of Castle.
In fact, the more I think about Halloween II, the more I realise how great of a sequel it was. It was only 3 years apart so nothing had changed all that much. It was filmed in the same location. Used the same cameras. Had the same actors that all looked the same age from the first film, including a very much real and alive Donal Pleasance. We had the actual hero mask from the first film. Just on all those merits alone that’s enough for us fanboys and gals to wet the bed. On top of that, we had the great direction from Rick Rosenthal that captured the atmosphere from the first film perfectly and makes it incredibly hard to tell the difference between the first and second film. They genuinely feel like the same exact movie. It was written by the man himself who created the whole thing, Mr John Carpenter. Halloween II has many great iconic moments like Myers lifting the nurse up by the scalpel stabbed in her back and the blood tears scene. How can you get any better then that? Although the film really dragged out and honestly can get a little boring, I feel like all the above merits completely outweigh those negatives and make it very easy to look past.
Halloween 2018 was promised to be ‘the true sequel’ to Halloween 1978. Considering the fact it’s 40 years later, we no longer have Donald Pleasance or the original mask, we no longer are shooting in the same location, cameras have advanced so nothing about the film will look authentic to the first, legacy characters are all old now, you would think they would have needed to get everything they could have gotten right spot on in order to even attempt it being a ‘true sequel’. The fact that the atmosphere was non existent, there was hardly any suspense and any suspense that was there was killed with comedy, the overload of comedy itself is a bummer. There are really no iconic moments in 2018 either. All those ‘special moments’ are just replicating what the first film did as fan service. Just a tip of the hat. That’s pretty much what these films are. They’re fan service films. I don’t know how they could possibly say it’s the ‘true sequel’ when they’re competing with something as successful as Halloween II 1981.
You pretty much summed it up perfectly. Halloween 2018 has no identity of it’s own. Like you said it has no iconic moments of it’s own, it’s basically just a greatest hits compilation.
By the way in my honest opinion, digital will never look as beautiful as film. There’s just something about the way film captures the look of light, colors, and shadows. Whereas with digital it just looks flat, dull, and artificial. Dean Cundey knew how to film a movie.
Tbh I kinda liked it. A different situation and scenario for Michael. H18 has to different to H21. They know he’s back and like in the film the environment is now a free for all. He still stalks and kills in typical Myers fashion imo. JJC nails it ok for me. Could of been a hell lot worse.
I think JJC is incredible as MM, and the best since the Castle/Warlock era.
I don’t think DGG & DMcB are casual Halloween fans. I think they are huge Halloween fans, which is what I think helped them get the gig. They also seem to be fans of the entire series, especially parts 1 & 2. Their attention to detail, and devotion to making the best movies they can is unmatched, imo, since 1981.
They may not be everyone’s favorite entries, but I have to give these guys credit. They made me excited about a new Halloween film. Something I haven’t felt since H20.
I can’t imagine if the series had gone forward after RZH2. I don’t think it would have been better, imo, that’s for sure.
Wait a min. Your saying you prefer michael in H20 over JJCs portrayal in H18 and HKills? To each their own but dude your smoking something you shouldn’t be. imo JJC is myers. Weather or not you liked either of the movies it’s hard to deny his portrayal of the character…the torch has been passed and he claimed ownership.
Durand played Michael pretty similarly to Castle. They both walked at an above average speed, and their movements were very smooth, and fluid, almost cat like in a way. It also helps that they had very similar physiques as well, in the original Michael is depicted as being slim, and moderately tall.
Also my only criticism of his performance is when he sat up at the end, I felt he could’ve been a little more stiff when he did it. Besides that his performance was pretty great, and really made me feel like I was watching the original Michael.
JJC’s performance in 2018 felt very Tyler Mane like, with a few Nick Castle like moments thrown in here and there.
Sorry I disagree. James is the best Myers since Nick Castle to me. Dick Warlock is okay but the inconsistencies with his performance to Nick’s bothered me. James captured the essence of what made Nick’s performance great to begin with and just expanded on it with what the script needed him to do.
I’m glad you like his version, but I’m not a fan of it. The majority of his performance in 2018 reminds me of Tyler Mane’s performance in the remake, especially the scene of him killing the podcasters, it almost felt like I was watching the remake version of Michael in that scene.
There’s really only a few short moments that felt Castle like, the rest of his performance felt like it was pulled from the remake.