The latest iteration of the Candyman movie in the series was quite a journey. The new movie in the series does a lot of compounding on what the first film established. Before I begin, I need to explain the timeline this time in the series, seeing as though this film is a sequel to the original. That’s right folks, Candyman did the Halloween thing and completely disregards the other movies in the series and; instead, the new movie is a direct sequel to the original film. The film does many allusions and references to the first whilst also keeping that horror element that Candyman movie genre falls under. Last bit of heads up is that this review is going to be major spoilers so read at your discretion.
The plot this time centers around photographer and painter Anthony and his girlfriend Brianna who just moved into their new apartment on top of the ashes of the old Carbrini Green. Anthony soon learns about the legend of Candyman and wants to learn more so he could potentially get more creative with his artwork for an upcoming art showing. He soon learns the legend of the Candyman and he summons the Candyman and the bloodshed starts after that.
There is some cinematography in this movie that was surprisingly good. What I mean by surprisingly, I mean that I wasn’t expecting it in the movie but was pleased that it was there. I think the most memorable shot is when Anthony is in Cabrini Green and there is a shot showing the dilapidated decayed Cabrini Green and in the background, it shows these skyscraper-like buildings in the background. This shot is a great juxtaposition of the rundown Cabrini Green versus the rest of the city. There was also a shot when a certain character was about to die, no spoilers here, we get a shot of these red colors against the wall which was nice foreshadowing for what was to come for that character.
The symbolism in this movie is again talking about the black trauma. Candyman is a symbol of a black man who was horribly killed becoming a legend. This movie solidifies this concept by there being more than one Candyman. Tony Todd is the original Candyman but this movie brings in a new Candyman or a new concept for candyman. This legend is for black people's stories to be continued to be told throughout the generations and to take down the ones who want to silence their voices including those who pander to gentrification. Gentrification is talked about a lot in this movie which the movie goes into a little about how white people were supposed to help those in Cabrini Green but people kept building around Cabrini and never truly gave it the support it’s supposed to. Candyman will continue to go down in history as the best horror icon there is but he’s more than a horror icon, he’s a symbol for the tragic tales that normally happen throughout history and lifts those voices up even getting a little bloody.