With the release of "Killjoy 2: Deliverance From Evil", Big City Pictures has taken another major step as a film company, and released its first sequel (and, at the same time, experienced its first "sophomore slump"). Unfortunately, the film has lost what made the first one so entertaining with uneven pacing and the loss of Angel Vargas as Killjoy.
"Killjoy 2" begins, in a pretty typical film fashion, with introduction of the characters and setup of the situation. Unfortunately, this drags greatly, making the first 40 minutes of the film seem like useless filler, particularly since only one of these specific details has any relevance to the later plot (and even this is just a one-time dialogue reference). Once Killjoy makes his appearance at around the 35-40 minute mark (of a 72 minute film?!), the film quickly becomes a mad-dash to kill off all the characters, which, in total contrast to the unnecessarily drawn-out first half, is rushed and oversimplified. Sadly, the film never catches up to its own speed, and ends rather abruptly, and the final battle with Killjoy was VERY unsatisfying since it was just as rushed as the rest of the second half and looked barely thought out (it just screams anti-climactic!). I was surprised to learn that the original "Killjoy" was also only 72 minutes long, because, unlike this one, it didn't seem that short, and I wasn't thinking "That's IT?!" when the credits hit. There wasn't even a sequel tease!
I loved Killjoy's character in the first film, but it wasn't until I saw the sequel that I truly appreciated why. Angel Vargas really gave Killjoy a character in the first film. This Killjoy is given none of the funny ghetto-slang one-liners that Vargas was able to deliver so well (sure, the lines were cliche, but he had the whiny, clown-type voice to make them work!), and, although this Killjoy has learned some new "tricks" in his kills, he doesn't look like he has as much fun with them as Vargas' Killjoy did. Not to mention that Vargas is also built like a clown, and in appearance was strongly reminiscent of Batman's famous arch-nemesis The Joker, whereas the new Killjoy looks and sounds like an everyday thug that just happens to be dressed like a clown.
I didn't enjoy "Killjoy 2" as much as I did the original, however I could see that it has improved in some areas (although those changes don't make up for the changes for the worse that I have written about, nor are they enough to make it "worthwhile" to mainstream fans of "real films"). I would recommend it as a rental to fans of the original, but would humbly suggest that if there is another sequel, that Vargas be brought back as Killjoy so that the film becomes fun again.
"Killjoy 2" begins, in a pretty typical film fashion, with introduction of the characters and setup of the situation. Unfortunately, this drags greatly, making the first 40 minutes of the film seem like useless filler, particularly since only one of these specific details has any relevance to the later plot (and even this is just a one-time dialogue reference). Once Killjoy makes his appearance at around the 35-40 minute mark (of a 72 minute film?!), the film quickly becomes a mad-dash to kill off all the characters, which, in total contrast to the unnecessarily drawn-out first half, is rushed and oversimplified. Sadly, the film never catches up to its own speed, and ends rather abruptly, and the final battle with Killjoy was VERY unsatisfying since it was just as rushed as the rest of the second half and looked barely thought out (it just screams anti-climactic!). I was surprised to learn that the original "Killjoy" was also only 72 minutes long, because, unlike this one, it didn't seem that short, and I wasn't thinking "That's IT?!" when the credits hit. There wasn't even a sequel tease!
I loved Killjoy's character in the first film, but it wasn't until I saw the sequel that I truly appreciated why. Angel Vargas really gave Killjoy a character in the first film. This Killjoy is given none of the funny ghetto-slang one-liners that Vargas was able to deliver so well (sure, the lines were cliche, but he had the whiny, clown-type voice to make them work!), and, although this Killjoy has learned some new "tricks" in his kills, he doesn't look like he has as much fun with them as Vargas' Killjoy did. Not to mention that Vargas is also built like a clown, and in appearance was strongly reminiscent of Batman's famous arch-nemesis The Joker, whereas the new Killjoy looks and sounds like an everyday thug that just happens to be dressed like a clown.
I didn't enjoy "Killjoy 2" as much as I did the original, however I could see that it has improved in some areas (although those changes don't make up for the changes for the worse that I have written about, nor are they enough to make it "worthwhile" to mainstream fans of "real films"). I would recommend it as a rental to fans of the original, but would humbly suggest that if there is another sequel, that Vargas be brought back as Killjoy so that the film becomes fun again.