5 Huge Mistakes That Killed The Candyman Reboot
Another delayed movie that wasn't worth the wait.
The long-awaited Candyman reboot, which was more or less the most anticipated horror film of the year thanks to the timely themes and Jordan Peele's involvement, had finally arrived more than a year after it was meant to come out.
And sadly, just like a few other big 2021 releases, it's a delayed movie that wasn't worth the wait.
While it benefits from a strong cast, some genuinely brutal set-pieces and Nia DaCosta's smart direction, the film is a mess in the writing department and this holds it back from ever reaching its enormous potential.
Given how much horror fans were looking forward to it and given how long we've all been waiting for this movie, it's a damn shame this reboot ended up being so mediocre.
2021 has been a year in which many horror sequels have been released. Three of them are Spiral: From the Book of Saw, The Forever Purge and Escape Room: Tournament of Champions... and all three are better than Candyman, which shows just how much this movie dropped the ball.
So yes, Candyman (2021) just doesn't work at all, and here's why...
Spoilers Ahead.
5. Tony Todd Is Completely Wasted
Firstly, this reboot completely wastes the franchise's biggest icon.
It was nice to hear Tony Todd was returning, but his role is nothing more than an ultra-brief cameo. This film expands the lore by revealing that several different vengeful ghosts - all of them murdered African-Americans - have taken on the Candyman mantle over the decades, with the Todd character we saw before being the original one.
The film has a new Candyman for most of its run-time and you'll spend much of the movie waiting for Todd to appear. Eventually, he does... for ten seconds... at the very end of the movie. This is incredibly jarring for two main reasons.
Firstly, it feels like a criminal waste of this excellent character actor, who's never quite got the mainstream recognition he deserves.
Secondly, and more importantly, the film doesn't replace Todd's Candyman with anything compelling. Michael Hargrove is OK as the new Candyman - the spirit of a victim of police brutality - but he lacks Todd's screen-presence and the character is considerably less interesting than the one from the original.
Since viewers will spend so much time wondering when Todd is going to appear, this absence is distracting as hell and is really detrimental to the overall viewing experience.