Written by: Jordan Peele, Win Rosenfeld, Nia DaCosta
Starring: Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Teyonah Parris, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Colman Domingo
Rating: [2/5]
Collective trauma has its ugly way of uniting people under a specific cause or belief because of what has been experienced and the proper way to move on from it. This process can take decades but as we see with the new version of Candyman, this trauma can be revitalized. Unfortunately, for the sake of this film, it does not have the runway to effectively tell it all despite some promising aspects.
Visual artist Anthony (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) seeks inspiration for his next project where he learns about the legend of Candyman. After investigating despite warnings he learns more about the legend and those who have seen this entity in the past. This research begins to take over his life as his obsession with the legend begins to create a change within him.
The bones of an incredible story existed here for this iteration of Candyman that deserves plenty of credit right from the onset. Historically, this icon signifies plenty and ultimately serves as a tragic figure through its fatal historical significance. What the character represents allows for quite the fertile ground to mine and craft something meaningful for a new generation to take and run with it, which ultimately serves as the intention of this feature. This trauma, as referenced in the film, of police brutality and its history with the titular entity makes for some strong moments throughout but the lack of cohesion does the film no favors.
Another area of exploration this feature delves into is the specific legitimacy of trauma used for the purposes of art. This becomes central to what Anthony crafts and ultimately lead him down this rabbit hole throughout the movie. He takes something others want kept private and utilizes it for his own gain through his art, or through his own belief in raising some sort of awareness around it. This reasoning begins to not hold water when Anthony directly benefits from this service he feels he provides through his art making for some murky waters. It allows a larger idea of the purpose of art and at what point the monetization of trauma crosses an inappropriate line.
Again, conceptually this feature has plenty going for it but when it comes to the all-important execution, it begins to majorly struggle. This partly occurs because of its very brief runtime. Normally it’s hard to complain when a movie contains brevity, makes its point, and leaves but with all of the density required in this story, more time was required. The brevity opted for in this feature leaves for a rushed ending moving things along far too quickly to the point of confusion of how things got to this point. Whether or not the film always sought to carry a runtime this short or studio intervention made its way in remains a question worth exploring.
Through the struggles of its screenplay, it does not take away from what Nia DaCosta manages to display visually on screen. She delivers some striking moments in capturing the moments where Anthony begins his descent as he encounters the legend of this entity and where he ultimately fits within it. She adds to the horror of the feature through some well-shot sequences allowing for some stunning moments meant to thrill. Complaints of this feature certainly do not lie in what occurs visually but DaCosta did not receive any favors from the screenplay even though she receives a writing credit for the film thus taking part in creating her own problems here. Evidently a disjointed creative effort here.
Utterly disappointing in the final product despite the terrific foundation at the center, Candyman ultimately needed more time to tell the story it sought to tell. The screenplay pushed on an incredibly rushed story taking away the potent moments meant to leave a mark and just elicited some shrugs as to what we received. DaCosta’s directions make those moments that need emphasis stand out along with some fairly decent performances by the cast but they ultimately did not have a chance with the parameters set before them. Amid all of the problems it has the ambition deserves respect in the way it utilizes the character but the execution fell far too short.
Films with Josh 