The Conjuring 2: The Enfield Experiment R
Claiming to be based on real-life events from the late 1970s, this sequel finds Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga returning as noted paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, whose reputation was made on the Amityville case. It’s 1977 when the pair travels to Enfield, England, where they investigate poltergeist activity at the home of a beset working-class single mother (Frances O’Connor) and her young children. The soundtrack jarringly goes “bump in the night,” while the demonic spirit of an old man possesses a young girl. Although similar in plot to the original Exorcist, director James Wan expertly manipulates each scare, ratcheting up the tension until we can hardly breathe. (Lisa Miller)
Now You See Me 2 PG-13
Four magicians (Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco and Lizzy Caplan) are forced by a tech genius (Daniel Radcliffe) to pull off an impossible heist. After succeeding, the quartet, known as The Four Horsemen, boldly conspires to clear their names by performing a public stunt to a sold-out house. Wait...doesn’t this sequel’s plot sound almost exactly like that of the original? While critics panned that hocus pocus, box office numbers soared. The gang returns, except Isla Fisher (replaced by Caplan). This time the film’s giddy plot, attractive protagonists and entertaining bag of tricks, are expertly calculated to please fans of the original. (L.M.)
Warcraft PG-13
The popular video game finally gets its own film, but the spectacle fails to grab non-players. Orcs are a race of giant warrior beasts, making use of a portal to flee their dying homeland for the peaceful planet Azeroth, whose inhabitants rally to repel the full-scale attack. Orc characters are ambitiously played in performance-capture, including soldier Durotan (Toby Kebbell), who questions his clansmen’s brutality. Anduin Lothar (Travis Fimmel) is a knight and the film’s human hero. Two thousand visual effects represent a mighty effort, but a large number of effects blur, or are edited incoherently. Meanwhile, this story lacks a mythology to draw us in, causing many a scene to land with a thud.
