Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween

The first instalment was crazy enough, so there’s no reason to expect the second one to be better. Naturally, it’s a bit worse, but the difference is not so big. The plot is nuts, the effects okay and acting performances mediocre. If there was no Jack Black, who moreover only has a cameo role here, there would be no reason to watch this movie. (06.12.2019)

This is excellent. While the first installment is a tribute to the phenomenon, the second is an actual Goosebumps episode. It’s pampered, authentic, and fun. It has real relationships between the children and a look at the adults through their eyes. And we also get Tesla. It's well written. (01.04.2022)

I didn't expect any miracles from Goosebumps 2, so I couldn't be disappointed. The child protagonists are surprisingly not as annoying as could be expected, more annoying was the main villain, a ventriloquist's dummy, and Ken Jeong, who overacts a lot, parodies himself and aspires to be "paedophile of the year" with his performance. The revived monsters and their attack was the action highlight of the film and even the old friend R.L.Stine with the face of Jack Black came into his own. They even managed to come up with one quite unexpected twist at the end, which, although it didn't have the power and depth of the one from the previous installment, was still good. An unpretentious flick with a few facepalms that could have planted a whole forest out of clichés and predictability, but it mostly passes quickly and doesn't outright annoy. (20.01.2019)