2” delivers on many of the promises of its predecessor, echoing its familiar teasing humor, comic-book in-jokes and irreverent, self-deprecating vibe. When needle drops have been curated carefully and deployed judiciously, they can enhance a film’s atmosphere and its characters’ unspoken feelings. Too often, though, they’re lazy ploys to earn the audience’s buy-in, or to signal the connoisseurship and impressively arcane tastes of the filmmaker. Music that should be used to convey added layers of environmental and emotional information is instead used simply for nostalgia appeal and self-congratulation. But there are far more sloppy, haphazard films that use music to cover up for more fundamental flaws.

Source: Washington Post May 04, 2017 20:37 UTC