Exactly as the heading says. This movie had some cool set pieces for the telekinetic action sequences, with some pretty spiffy gore effects, but this low-budget sequel affair to one of the best sci-fi horror films of all time just doesn't live up to David Cronenberg's original.
For the most part, the first third of this film is excellent, but right after the quicky-mart scene everything slows down to a crawl... and it kind of stays there for a while. You can see the over-arching "twist" that isn't really a twist coming a mile away. And the entire middle section of the film just kind o drags as you're waiting for the movie to pick up again.
The finale does deliver, but certainly no where near as impactful as the original showdown in the first Scanners. It's still pretty cool for what limited budget the production crew had to work with.
I think the main issue was pacing and story beats. The film dragged trying to get to the good parts and seemed to languish doing so.
Most iconic action-horror/sci-fi films have cool action pieces in the beginning, a good hook in the middle, and then a memorable showdown. You had the attempted Predator capture in the first Predator; you had the penthouse massacre in Predator II; you had the base defense sequence in Aliens; you had those awesome fight montages in Bloodsport; you had mall fight and chase scene in Commando; the prisoner escape in Rambo II; the children rescue and carnival ninja fight in Dolph Lundgren's Punisher; etc., etc., etc.
Basically, most good action/sci-fi films keep the pace moving with a good middle-section action beat. Something memorable and engrossing. Here? That doesn't really happen. So between the awesome first act and the showdown at the end, there's hardly anything memorable or noteworthy that happens that keeps you as engaged. Heck, even in the first Scanners there was that awesome raid on the scanner hideout to keep the action movie during the middle of the film, leading up to the big finale.
All that being said, there were still some cool Scanner sequences here, and if you really enjoyed the first film, it's not like there's no entertainment value here. You can still enjoy what the film has to offer, even if it is somewhat limited and doesn't quite measure up to the brutal original. I think also, better cinematography, lighting, and mood could have helped a lot, especially given how the main Scanner villain was chewing up the scenes and could have used more moody set pieces to help accentuate his performance.
For the most part, the first third of this film is excellent, but right after the quicky-mart scene everything slows down to a crawl... and it kind of stays there for a while. You can see the over-arching "twist" that isn't really a twist coming a mile away. And the entire middle section of the film just kind o drags as you're waiting for the movie to pick up again.
The finale does deliver, but certainly no where near as impactful as the original showdown in the first Scanners. It's still pretty cool for what limited budget the production crew had to work with.
I think the main issue was pacing and story beats. The film dragged trying to get to the good parts and seemed to languish doing so.
Most iconic action-horror/sci-fi films have cool action pieces in the beginning, a good hook in the middle, and then a memorable showdown. You had the attempted Predator capture in the first Predator; you had the penthouse massacre in Predator II; you had the base defense sequence in Aliens; you had those awesome fight montages in Bloodsport; you had mall fight and chase scene in Commando; the prisoner escape in Rambo II; the children rescue and carnival ninja fight in Dolph Lundgren's Punisher; etc., etc., etc.
Basically, most good action/sci-fi films keep the pace moving with a good middle-section action beat. Something memorable and engrossing. Here? That doesn't really happen. So between the awesome first act and the showdown at the end, there's hardly anything memorable or noteworthy that happens that keeps you as engaged. Heck, even in the first Scanners there was that awesome raid on the scanner hideout to keep the action movie during the middle of the film, leading up to the big finale.
All that being said, there were still some cool Scanner sequences here, and if you really enjoyed the first film, it's not like there's no entertainment value here. You can still enjoy what the film has to offer, even if it is somewhat limited and doesn't quite measure up to the brutal original. I think also, better cinematography, lighting, and mood could have helped a lot, especially given how the main Scanner villain was chewing up the scenes and could have used more moody set pieces to help accentuate his performance.