Skip to main content

Stranger Things 2 (2017) - Series Review


Stranger Things 2 is a follow-up to last year's excellent Netflix original series Stranger Things, and it takes place approximately 1 year after the events of the first season. A new threat is looming, and poor Will Byers is once again at the center of it. 

I absolutely adored the first season, it was one of my favorite new series to come out recently and I was super pumped up for the second season. And thankfully, it delivered once again. The Duffer Brothers managed to give us another season full of mystery and thrills, fun and feels.

Once again, the performances were great across the board, talking about them would take too long so I'll just mention my personal favorite this time. Mille Bobby Brown (Eleven) was the standout last time; this time, however, Noah Schnapp (Will) absolutely KILLED IT. He didn't have much to showcase his acting talent chops in season 1 since he was absent for most of it, but here he brought it all, and it was wonderful. Shawn Levy (producer+director of some episodes) said that this will be the year of the Schnapp, and he wasn't kidding. Give this kid some awards already.

This season, obviously, progressed the characters and I loved what The Duffer Brothers did with the new pairings. Some of it was what I wanted and some of it turned out to be what I always wanted but never knew about it. Steve became one of my favorite characters in the series after this season. His arc has been great. Three new characters were introduced as well i.e Bob, Max and Billy. Sean Astin as Bob was awesome, Max was good, Billy was eh. But I'm guessing Billy will get proper development in season 3. 

The cinematography was also once again excellent, and the shots containing the Mind Flayer were breathtaking, things like the huge storm of red lightning with the entity ever so ominously lingering in it...I could stare at those for hours. Of course, it wouldn't be stranger things without the amazing soundtrack, and the composers Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein produced yet another eargasmic synthwave-style soundtrack. Tons of new tracks that stuck with me long after the series was over, and I was glad that some old tracks were used as well.

Stranger Things 2 wasn't as good as the first season, though. It wasn't as tightly paced or consistent, and some things were contrived, but I would say it probably had the better high point in the series so far, the last two episodes were glorious. It also felt like some of the story beats were being repeated, but it's a small nitpick, to be honest, as I didn't really care about that, but thought I'd mention it nonetheless.

Now to address the elephant in the room i.e Episode 7, and maybe mention some of my favorite moments. If you haven't seen it yet, skip the following spoiler section:

SPOILERS WARNING:
Unlike many others, I wouldn't say Episode 7 was pointless/useless. It was a decent arc for Eleven, seeking out her sister and learning to channel her anger in a better way to have more power, although I lowkey did wish they didn't do this as Eleven being the only one made her more special IMO. Anyway, My problem with it was the placement. After an excellent Episode 6 which ended on a great cliffhanger, you are suddenly swept away to an Eleven focused episode and that absolutely broke the pacing for me. It would have been much better if this whole arc was broken into chunks and spread out over 2-3 episodes alongside the main plot.

Some of my favorite moments/scenes:
  • The Mind Flayer in the red storm. 
  • Return of Eleven. Finn Wolfhard man, such a great actor. His expression was priceless. 
  • Mike and Hopper after Eleven's return. 
  • Will getting a seizure at the end of episode 5. It was legit creepy, and Noah Schnapp killed it. 
  • Hopper and Eleven's conversation in the car in the finale. FEEEELS!
  • The first time you see the gate in its entirety. CHILLS! 
  • Eleven going full on Magneto mode and closing the gate. 
  • Steve and Dustin on the tracks. Sweet little scene showing the growing bromance. The steve+dustin brotherly relationship was one of my favorite thing about this season. Or I should say Steve+ Dustin and Steve+Kids as well. All of those scenes were gold. 

END OF SPOILERS


Overall, a great addition to the series that has lower lows, but also has higher highs. Any fan of the first season should like this one too. Now I can't wait for Stranger Things 3. The wait is gonna be annoying. 

9/10 
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi (2016) - Review

This movie is based on a true story about the attack on an american embassy and a secret CIA base in Benghazi, Libya, on the 9/11 anniversary in 2012. And how a few numbers of of Ex-Soldiers managed to repel the attack. Directed by Micheal Bay, I was surprised to see him holding back his Bay-ism and deliver a straight forward focused film. The story got a long build up at the start, setting up the location, the characters and the situation. And then chaos. What I liked most about this film was the fact that you felt just as lost as the soldiers and people in this movie. The confusion, the chaos, the uncertainty, it was delivered quite nicely, creating tension and thrill. There are a lot of characters in the movie, but ultimately it is focused on these soldiers, and while the movie could have done a better job developing them, what it did was good enough in a sense that it worked for the movie. I liked em. Acting varied, with some delivering pretty good performances. Also, again wi...
Post a Comment
Read more

Baywatch (2017) - Movie Review

Baywatch is a movie based on the old TV series of the same name. It's about a bunch of lifeguards on a beach who try to uncover drug smuggling in their area...yeah, that is the plot. It's dumb, it's stupid, but I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't that bad. Don't get me wrong, it's not good, but it wasn't horrible either.  The movie actually had some fun in it. The Rock, as always, was charismatic, funny and likable; and Zac Efron, surprisingly, was similar to that. He got ripped AF for the movie. Alexandra Daddario was fun as well, although any movie gets bonus points for just including her in my book. Priyanka Chopra was in it as well, and between her in this and Deepika Padukone in XXX: The Return of Xander Cage, Priyanka definitely was the better one.  There were legit funny scenes sprinkled throughout, but there were also a shit ton of scenes that tried too hard to be hilarious but fell flat instead. Baywatch also had a large dosage...
Post a Comment
Read more

Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation (2015) - Movie Review

Being the FIFTH part of a franchise, initially I had some doubts about this film. But after seeing the good reception it got, my hopes were up and rightfully so. Rogue Nation continues off from where Ghost Protocol left, with Ethan Hunt getting a new mission to take down the rogue spy agency called the Syndicate. Tom Cruise is well, Tom Cruise. He was awesome yet again. The one that was surprisingly great was the female lead, Rebecca Ferguson. She acted great, she was sexy, she was lethal and she was a total badass. Best MI girl to date. Her chemistry with Tom Cruise was also great and it is one of those VERY rare times where I ACTUALLY liked the romance/lovey dovey subplot. Movie handled it very well. It wasn't prolonged or anything, it wasn't cheesy or cliched or typical, it was just right. The supporting cast was also great. Simon Pegg's character once again showed how to handle comic relief properly in a movie. He was funny, he was awesome and he wasn't jus...
Post a Comment
Read more