CinemaNerdz

The Preview Reel: Annabelle Takes On Nut Job

Scott Davis
The Preview Reel

Welcome to the “Preview Reel” column, where we look at the week’s upcoming wide-release movies. The month of August started off sluggishly with The Dark Tower taking the number one spot with just $19.5 million. Things don’t look to be getting better, especially this week. There’s a prequel to a movie no one really liked in Annabelle: Creation, and the sequel no one was asking for in The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature. Makes you miss the weeks when Dunkirk or War for the Planet of the Apes were opening, doesn’t it?

 

Annabelle: Creation

What we are excited about: Horror directors can make or break a project, and luckily for Annabelle: Creation, they have a pretty talented one here. David F. Sandberg directed last summer’s surprise hit Lights Out, which was inspired by his own short film. Lights Out was a fun, genuinely scary PG-13 horror flick, and we are intrigued to see what he does with a bigger budget. This reminds us of last year’s Ouija: Origin of Evil in the sense that it’s a prequel set many decades before the first installment and might just be exceptionally better. Ouija was terrible, and so was Annabelle, so if Ouija: Origin of Evil was great, maybe Annabelle: Creation will be too? Right?

What we are worried about: As mentioned before, Annabelle was terrible. Despite having a strong opening scene, the movie became incredibly dull and had almost no scares. It felt like nothing more than a cash grab after the success of The Conjuring, and we’re hoping this isn’t just more of the same. With a more talented director at the helm and an intriguing setting, we’re confident this can at least be better than the first installment of the series.

The Buzz: Shockingly, this movie debuted months ago and has gotten incredibly strong reviews. The movie currently sits at 83% on RottenTomatoes and 69 on MetaCritic. To be fair, those scores have been going down as more critics are seeing it.  But, still…a prequel to a movie almost everyone hated being certified fresh on RottenTomatoes? While this summer has surprisingly been devoid of any break-out horror movies, this could be the one if people are willing to give it a chance. Look for an opening around $25 million due to the lack of competition.

Final Thoughts: If you’re a horror fan, this could satisfy the fix that you haven’t gotten this summer. If you’re not a horror connoisseur, you may want to wait for home release since the first one was so terrible.

 

The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature

What we are excited about: There are some funny people in this cast (Will Arnett, Gabriel Iglesias, and Jeff Dunham to name just a few). But that’s about it.

What we are worried about: Read the title. If that doesn’t have you worried enough, watch the trailer. We shouldn’t have to explain that this aimed squarely at kids and isn’t your typical Disney, DreamWorks, or Pixar release.

The Buzz: This isn’t getting as strong of buzz for being awful as The Emoji Movie got a couple weeks ago, but with no reviews and no one really remembering the first movie, we think this movie will bomb with an opening around $10 million.

Final Thoughts: You should only consider seeing this movie id you have kids and they “really” want to do. But, after The Emoji Movie and this, don’t kids (and their parents) deserve better?

Scott Davis

Scott Davis is a recent graduate of Oakland University where he earned a degree in journalism. He worked for the student newspaper on campus, The Oakland Post, where he became the paper's managing editor. He also earned a minor in Cinema Studies at OU. Scott enjoys all things film and TV related, especially the blockbuster kind. He might be the biggest Christopher Nolan fan you know.
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