Movies for Breakfast HALLOWEEN ENDS Review

Bouncing back from its disappointing predecessor, Halloween Ends proves itself to be a satisfying and surprising character-driven conclusion.

Synopsis

Four years after her last encounter with masked killer Michael Myers, Laurie Strode is living with her granddaughter and trying to finish her memoir. Myers hasn’t been seen since, and Laurie finally decides to liberate herself from rage and fear and embrace life. However, when a young man stands accused of murdering a boy that he was babysitting, it ignites a cascade of violence and terror that forces Laurie to confront the evil she can’t control.

Review

Well, we finally made it. A pandemic, two lockdowns and a disappointing sophomore film later, “Halloween Ends” arrives not a moment too soon before the aforementioned holiday. Anticipation mixed with dread mixed with fake indifference, fans waited patiently to see if the long-awaited conclusion to David Gordon Green’s trilogy would throw a surprise haymaker of greatness or flop into obscurity like the disappointing “Halloween Kills.” I vote on the side of haymaker.

“Ends” deals with the aftermath of the gory, violent events of the predecessor, taking the series three years into the future. Laurie Strode is now rebuilding her life with her granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak, solid) after the death of her daughter Karen, at the hands of the Shape. No longer is she living in the secluded home, borne from the twisted dreams of a Kevin McCallister. No longer is she “Grandma with a Shotgun” waiting forever for the night The Shape comes home. Instead, we have a caring, nurturing grandmother that is now writing a memoir of her crazy tormented life, an idea spurned by good ol’ Deputy Hawkins (Will Patton, doesn’t add much but always a welcome presence). She is moving forward, no longer letting the “Boogeyman” (who hasn’t been seen since the events of the previous film) control her life. This kind of development gives Jamie Lee Curtis – who can act her behind off when given the right material (see: Everything Everywhere All At Once) – room to breathe, elevating her iconic scream queen role into a great performance.

Though she is rebuilding her life, Laurie is unfortunately still a pariah within her hometown of Haddonfield, Illinois. She is stamped as a weirdo who will be forever tied to the legacy of Michael Myers. With this, she finds solace with a partner-in-exile, Corey Cunningham (Rohan Campbell, great), a young man who was once accused a killing a child he babysat (the unfortunate accident in question is shown in the film’s brilliant, shocking prologue). Corey and Laurie are both directly and indirectly affected by the horrific legacy of The Shape. This jointed pair of traumatized character development sets into motion the nicely paced twists and turns of this film.
Before Laurie knows it (or before she can stop it?), Corey connects with a grieving, slightly numb Allyson. Within Corey, Allyson sees a man she can save and guide back to the light; within Allyson, Corey sees the same thing – if only he knew which direction the light is in. While this romantic subplot manifests into something interesting (or just interesting filler), we must remember – this is a “Halloween” film. Michael Myers stays waiting, hibernating in a sewer beneath the hometown of Haddonfield. Due to a series of unfortunate events, the Shape comes upon a visitor in the form of Corey. From here, the film takes a turn into something even more interesting – depending on who you ask, it either turns into something horrible from the words of a Myers enthusiast or into something great…also from the words of a Myers enthusiast. No matter what someone’s take is on the plot, it is definitely interesting. Soon enough, the body count begins to rise again in Haddonfield and Laurie’s Mikey Sense starts tingling, leading to great scenes of tension between her and Corey.

We barrel through all of this (a few nice kills along the way, not too gory, not too soft – just right) to a terrific, tense confrontation bringing a group of emotions ranging from sadness, grief and anger. And that is where I truly believe “Ends” is great, it explores something I don’t think I’ve ever seen explored particularly well or accomplished in the Halloween franchise. Grief – a whole town full of it. An exploration of how one man and his grisly murders crippled a whole town not once but twice and left them forever hoping, praying the Boogeyman never returns. It’s this type of story that reveals the real monster within the town – the townspeople themselves. Laurie, Corey and Allyson represent a trifecta of lives forever changed by the Shape and the looming judging shadow of the town his murders left behind.

While David Gordon Green’s finale may prove to be a breath of fresh air for lovers of character development, there is still a bit to be desired. While the tone switch of this film may work for this entry alone, it proves the trilogy itself to be tonally dissonant as a whole. “Halloween” (2018) was a nicely made reboot that slightly touched on theme of PTSD and the complicated life one can live after surviving a traumatic event. “Kills”, while it touched on the idea of people killing their demons or killing their personal “boogeyman”, it was a gory, uneven, meandering midpoint of a sequel. If the goriness and unkillable energy of “Kills” had been combined with the character-driven power of “Ends”, Gordon Green could have made a great two-fer instead of a solid “two out of three” trilogy. The insertion of Corey is polarizing – it may enrage or delight the most ardent Mikey fan. The only real crime of Corey’s insertion is that it didn’t happen earlier in the uneven trilogy. But hey, better late than never to try new, interesting things.

Closing Thoughts
“Ends” is a good, character-driven high note to end the David Gordon Green-helmed trilogy. However, its efforts tend to be hampered down by a “Rise of Skywalker” formula of sidestepping or ignoring the energy of its predecessors. Green swings for the fences and brings a good haymaker (I don’t care if the metaphor is wrong) with strong performances, nice kills and a solid conclusion. For all of its faults as a dissonant whole, David Gordon Green’s trilogy managed to bring something new and fresh to the Shape’s universe, win or fail.

Trailer