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PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 2Movie Reviews
Horror film, and sequel, about a suburban couple who inhabits a haunted house. Cast:Katie FeatherstonDirector:Tod "Kip" WilliamsRelease Date:October 22, 2010DVD Release:February 8, 2011From:ParamountRating:RLength:1 hr 31 min
Paranormal Activity 2 played to good not great reviews. • Roger Ebert wrote in the Chicago Sun-Times, "...an efficient delivery system for Gotcha! Moments, of which it has about 19. Audiences who want to be Gotchaed will enjoy it.... delivers what it promises..." • And Bill Goodykoontz wrote in the Arizona Republic, "...won't win any points for originality... But it does deliver." More Reviews Below...
Mary Pols, Time: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...satisfying... the jolts, when they come, are bigger, causing actual physical thrills and chills... There wasn't that same intense shared mood in the audience..."(See all of Mary Pols's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 850 words, 10/22/10
Jake Coyle, Associated Press: WEAK(cg) "...better made and not quite as paper thin as the original, but by replicating the bare-bones B-film, the sequel sacrifices any chance for distinction."(See all of Jake Coyle's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 581 words, 10/22/10
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: EXCELLENT(cg) "...a highly worthy fear-factor sequel... you'll watch and wait for the unknown and be jittered with pleasure when it arrives."(See all of Owen Gleiberman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 805 words, 10/29/10
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...why not see the same movie with slightly better production values?... good, at least in the sense of being serviceable for getting you squirming in your seat."(See all of Peter Travers's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 363 words, 10/22/10
Claudia Puig, USA Today: VERY GOOD(cg) "Rarely is the second film in a horror franchise more frightening than the original, but this has more innocent victims and more scares than its predecessor..."(See all of Claudia Puig's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 408 words, 10/22/10
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: WEAK(cg) "...an efficient delivery system for Gotcha! Moments, of which it has about 19. Audiences who want to be Gotchaed will enjoy it.... delivers what it promises..."(See all of Roger Ebert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 778 words, 10/22/10
Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...much of the excruciatingly teased-out tension here echoes the first movie without upping the ante.... needs less plot explanation and more cloven hoof prints..."(See all of Joe Neumaier's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 405 words, 10/22/10
Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times: GOOD "...more of the same, for all the good and acceptably routine that that implies.... a case of skilled sameness, of something fine-tuned rather than overplayed."(See all of Robert Abele's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 502 words, 10/23/10
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: WEAK(cg) "...an efficient delivery system for Gotcha! Moments, of which it has about 19. Audiences who want to be Gotchaed will enjoy it.... delivers what it promises..."(See all of Roger Ebert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 778 words, 10/22/10
Peter Howell, Toronto Star: MODERATE(cg) "70 minutes of you having late-night hissy fits, followed by 21 minutes where you finally grow a pair and really start the demonic stuff."(See all of Peter Howell's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 594 words, 10/23/10
Liam Lacey, Toronto Globe & Mail: MODERATE(cg) "...the action sharply intensifies in the movie's last 15 minutes... the best sequences are too familiar from the first movie, leaving a disappointing sense of déjà boo."(See all of Liam Lacey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 486 words, 10/23/10
KEY CITIES (6 Reviews)
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: MODERATE(cg) "...the hair-raising moments are mostly encores, with the occasional cliched leap at the camera, a body suddenly jerked off camera, and the like."(See all of Roger Moore's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 541 words, 10/22/10
Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: EXCELLENT(cg) "...won't win any points for originality, as it delivers its considerable moments of terror in the same way the original film did. But it does deliver."(See all of Bill Goodykoontz's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 591 words, 10/23/10
Joy Tipping, Dallas Morning News: OUTSTANDING(cg) "The not-a-whiff-of-pretense goal is simply to scare the bedoodle out of the audience, and 'PA2' succeeds in that just as well if not better than the first."(See all of Joy Tipping's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 424 words, 10/23/10
Ty Burr, Boston Globe: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...cooks along eerily enough until the screenplay starts giving us background info and character motivation and other things a campfire horror tale doesn't need."(See all of Ty Burr's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 480 words, 10/23/10
Stephen Whitty, Cleveland Plain-Dealer: MODERATE(cg) "...the central conceit that people with a video camera just naturally film everything seems even less plausible than ever. Really, people film everything?"(See all of Stephen Whitty's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 487 words, 10/23/10
Adam Graham, Detroit News: VERY GOOD(cg) "...preserves the integrity of the first film while adding to its storyline, and delivers some major jolts along the way. Fear not, 'Blair Witch 2' this ain't."(See all of Adam Graham's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 358 words, 10/23/10
Mack Rawden, Cinema Blend: VERY GOOD(cg) "...it's better.... not only offers clarity and backstory to the original but also a chilling vision of its own which celebrates and polishes more than imitates and muddles."(See all of Mack Rawden's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 610 words, 10/23/10
Brett Michel, Boston Phoenix: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...sad to say, a simple internet search conducted by a fed-up character -- as always -- is all it takes to explain the bumps in the night. The horror... the horror..."(See all of Brett Michel's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 155 words, 10/28/10
Ed Gonzalez, Slant: VERY GOOD(cg) "As in John Carpenter's 'Halloween,' the audience is given several false-alarm build-ups to scares that never come in the film's first two acts."(See all of Ed Gonzalez's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 712 words, 10/22/10
MaryAnn Johanson, Flick Filosopher: POOR(cg) "...by the time the characters get around to be proactively involved in the story at all, it's far too late to make them thorny enough to do what they think needs to be done."(See all of MaryAnn Johanson's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 868 words, 10/29/10
Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times: GOOD "...more of the same, for all the good and acceptably routine that that implies.... a case of skilled sameness, of something fine-tuned rather than overplayed."(See all of Robert Abele's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 502 words, 10/23/10
Dana Stevens, Slate: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "Why would a demon this powerful dick around with frying pans and swimming-pool cleaners, rather than just sweeping in and killing whomever it wanted to kill?"(See all of Dana Stevens's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 689 words, 10/22/10
Dennis Harvey, Daily Variety: MODERATE "...pic's new protags are far less engaging and empathetic than the first film's quarreling, psychologically deteriorating duo.... a so-so effort..."(See all of Dennis Harvey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 798 words, 10/22/10
Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter: FAIR "...takes everything that was unique about the original and simply tries to do it again. Technically accomplished in its fake video-verite style but artistically bankrupt..."(See all of Frank Scheck's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 435 words, 10/22/10
Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times: GOOD "...more of the same, for all the good and acceptably routine that that implies.... a case of skilled sameness, of something fine-tuned rather than overplayed."(See all of Robert Abele's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 502 words, 10/23/10
Emanuel Levy, Cinema 24/7: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...rudimentary.... there are at least five or six truly spooky and scary moments, which will jolt you out of your seats and thus justify the price of admission."(See all of Emanuel Levy's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 615 words, 10/22/10
18.3 Percentage Points Average Difference Between Reviews (Norm is 18.4pp; <18.4pp = More Consistent; >18.4pp = More Mixed)
Paranormal Activity 2's reviews are separated by an average 18.3 percentage points. The norm for this measure is 18.4 percentage points. Less than 18.4 indicates more consistent reviews; greater than 18.4 indicates more mixed reviews. In the chart below, each dot represents a review, with the dots at the top more positive than the dots at the bottom. From left to right, the dots represent reviews in big, bigger and biggest publications. Roll over each dot for more detail.
Paranormal Activity 2 (31 reviews) Roll over dots for each review
Coverage:Paranormal Activity 2's reviews cover 58.6% of potential readers (average is 67.9%). Volume:The film's reviews total 16,950 words involume (average is 20,194 words). Length:The film's reviews average 547 words in length (the norm is 517 words).
Reviews Broke 26.6 Hours After Release (Norm is 1.2 Release)
Paranormal Activity 2's reviews on average broke 26.6 hours after opening. Norm for this measure is 1.2 hours before. The chart below shows reviews on opening day and the days before and after opening; the left side is earlier and the right side is later. The red bars extending above the horizontal mid-line represent more positive reviews, and the red bars extending below represent more negative reviews. The white space/red bar in the middle is Paranormal Activity 2's opening day. Click on any bar for a list of the reviews for that day.
Paranormal Activity 2 (31 reviews, click on bars for reviews)
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