My expectations were low going to the theater. I thought to myself, even if this is trash, we still have the original. Candyman is a contrived mess of a movie that did too much in too little time. The story was all over the place and relied heavily on social justice themes. It was a light retcon that reduced the titular slasher to cheap cosplay.

You know the guy from the original films, Daniel Robitaille (Tony Todd)? They replaced him with some other guy they decided. I was so confused and thought dude in the yellow raincoat, Sherman Fields, was an impersonator, trying to benefit from an urban legend. Oh how I wish it was a misdirect. If identity crisis was a film, this would be it. The plot went from Anthony (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), to gentrification, and then vengeance?

I felt the killing was relatively tame, especially with an R-rating. One thing the O.G. knows how to do well is eviscerate people, as well as animals. Imagine my surprise when I didn’t get to see any of this until the third act. Don’t get me wrong, the movie looks amazing. However, the narrative needs to be fleshed out a bit more. I was disappointed by this “spiritual successor” and give Candyman a 4.5 out of 10.