{"id":29808,"date":"2014-12-10T21:33:30","date_gmt":"2014-12-11T02:33:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/?p=29808"},"modified":"2018-12-11T21:36:43","modified_gmt":"2018-12-12T02:36:43","slug":"annabelle-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/2014\/12\/10\/annabelle-2014\/","title":{"rendered":"Annabelle (2014)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>I don\u2019t think we really needed to know the story of \u201cAnnabelle\u201d nor did we need a movie about her. And if we had to have one, wouldn\u2019t it have been better to expand on the events from the prologue of \u201cThe Conjuring\u201d? What\u2019s sad is that the first five minutes of \u201cThe Conjuring\u201d involving Annabelle is more terrifying than the ninety minute bore that is \u201cAnnabelle.\u201d It seems like often times the movie can reach the heights of pure terror if it wants to, but pulls back for some odd reason. Either director John R. Leonetti doesn\u2019t know how to hit those highs that \u201cThe Conjuring\u201d did, or just didn\u2019t want to, for the sake of a sequel. \u201cAnnabelle\u201d sets up the prologue by staging the first five minutes from \u201cThe Conjuring\u201d to let audiences know this is a direct sequel, and spin off, and prequel. It\u2019s all three.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

After we\u2019re done visiting the nurses, sans the Warrens, we go back to the origin of Annabelle. Unfortunately, the film has to explain the origin of Annabelle and why the doll is so bloody evil. That destroys any and all mystique she once held. Her enigmatic evil is deflated even further when we learn the doll is not really the villain, but is merely just an instrument of pure evil. So oddly enough, Annabelle is a second banana in her own horror movie. We go visit with utterly boring couple Mia and John, two Caucasian God fearing newlyweds that are about to welcome their first child. John gives wife Mia a new doll for her collection in the form of the rare Annabelle, but circumstances involving a brutal murder, and the couple becoming an inadvertent target triggers pure evil within the doll. Soon Mia finds herself being tormented by Annabelle, or\u2014not really Annabelle.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s never really indicated. There\u2019s an unusual attempt to make popping popcorn a terrifying moment; instead it\u2019s bereft of frights. Especially when you consider Annabelle isn\u2019t doing anything at all. There are some interesting elements thrown out in to the narrative that are never explored and completely thrown away for no reason, leaving the whole of the film feeling rushed and half assed. We meet an unusual pair of children coloring on the steps of Mia and John\u2019s apartment building, and they\u2019re never seen again. There are upstairs neighbors prone to making loud noises, and there\u2019s a ton of focus on Satanic cults, and demonic possession for no particular reason. You begin to wonder if the children Mia meets ever really existed when she discovers crayon drawing depicting her daughter being hit by a truck, but the writers never dig deep enough to keep us in suspense.<\/p>\n

When the shit finally does hit the fan by the finale, much of it is so monotonous as there\u2019s no sense of urgency or potential loss presented. We never care enough about Mia or John to care for their personal welfare, Annabelle doesn\u2019t do much except act as a glorified prop, and much of what occurred is brushed when Annabelle disappears in the end, setting the stage for the nurses terrifying journey in to \u201cThe Conjuring.\u201d The only African American character sacrifices herself, but at least the beautiful young Caucasian couple gets to see another day. \u201cAnnabelle\u201d is a huge missed opportunity with potential to really raise hairs as its predecessor did. In the end it\u2019s only half baked, dull, and lacking the heart and soul of \u201cThe Conjuring.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I don\u2019t think we really needed to know the story of \u201cAnnabelle\u201d nor did we need a movie about her. And if we had to have one, wouldn\u2019t it have been better to expand on the events from the prologue of \u201cThe Conjuring\u201d? What\u2019s sad is that the first five minutes of \u201cThe Conjuring\u201d involving […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[64,302,409,1273,703,793,969,1008,1087],"class_list":["post-29808","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-adaptation","tag-drama","tag-ghosts","tag-killer-dolls","tag-mystery","tag-possession","tag-spin-off","tag-supernatural","tag-thriller"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29808","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29808"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29808\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29810,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29808\/revisions\/29810"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29808"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29808"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29808"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}