After rewatching the first Black Phone to remind myself why I enjoyed it, I went into the sequel hopeful. The problem is, the first two acts feel like running at the Ninja Warrior wall. You keep charging, but never quite make it up there. The pacing is flat, especially compared to the original, and it struggles to build the same sense of tension. For a large chunk of the film, I felt like it was stuck in first gear.
That said, there are positives. Learning more about the villain’s origin story gives this installment a bit of weight and context the first film didn’t explore. The use of 8mm film for dream and horror sequences was also a clever stylistic touch. It might have been a little overdone, but I still liked how it gave certain moments an eerie, almost vintage edge.
Overall Black Phone 2 doesn’t quite pick up where the first film left off, and much of it feels flat by comparison. But between the deeper look at the villain and some stylish visual choices, it’s not without its merits it just takes too long to find its footing.
I grew up in the Blockbuster Video days, when picking a film meant judging the cover and hoping for the best. I’m not a critic by trade — I just call it how I see it, whether a film smashes it or falls flat on its face.
