Goosebumps (2015) was a strange thing for ole Torsten: seeing iconic monsters from my childhood on the big screen lead by the freaky talking dummy I fully admit scared me as much as Michael Myers and the Xenomorph when I was a kid but knowing damn well this movie wasn’t meant for me. It was meant for a generation of young kids who barely know what the hell a book is let alone a Goosebumps book, and that tears my heart out I must admit. So if the first disappointed and made me kinda sad, why watch the second- I’m a glutton for punishment, that’s why.
Goosebumps 2 begins with a small family in the quiet suburbs. Sonny and his best friends are normal kids trying to earn a buck but cleaning out houses and such, and one day they are called to a abandoned old house said to be haunted. They are told they can keep whatever they want, just clean it out. Inside is a old, unfinished manuscript that just happens to belong to R.L Stine. They also find Slappy the dummy and accidentally bring him to life. At first the dummy seems to be a friend but that changes when his intentions become clear- to unleash the power of Stine’s monsters and take over the town. Its up the kids and Sarah, Sonny’s big sister, to take down Slappy before it’s too late.
I have to say I kinda like this movie more than the first but it’s still far from great. This movie doesn’t try to feed you as much nostalgia and does in a lot of ways feel like a more modern episode of the show. The effects are better and the CGI has improved. Jack Black is better both as Stine and Slappy; the kids I wasn’t a fan of at first but they grew on me throughout the movie. This movie, pretty obviously, wasn’t made for the old fans and there are a few scenes here and there that made me groan, and much of the plot feels retold from the first. Honestly, it feels more like a soft reboot than a sequel. In the end, it’s not a terrible movie for kids but its absolutely not a substitute for anything that came before. May the gaming gods bring you glory.
