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Davis Journal

The Movie Guru: ‘Smile 2’ bigger and bloodier, while ‘Saturday Night’ a fascinating history

Oct 18, 2024 01:51PM ● By Jenniffer Wardell
Smile 2 (in theaters) 
It’s a bigger, bloodier “Smile” than the original. 
“Smile 2” doubles down on the 2022 surprise hit, taking the original horrifying concept and dialing it up to 11. The stomach-twisting unease is the same as the original, along with the brutality of the scares, but the violence is allowed to play out on a much larger, pop culture-soaked scale. This adds just a touch of humor, and a few twists that manage to be both fun and absolutely chilling. Not all of the scares land, but there’s enough happening that fans will leave the theater both horrified and satisfied. 
The murderous smile demon from the original film is back, but this time the Smile curse has found international pop sensation Skye Riley (Naomi Scott). After witnessing her friend’s horrific death, Riley keeps seeing his awful smile as part of terrifying visions everywhere she looks. Fans of the original movie will know that anyone who witnesses a Smile curse death will die within a week, which means that if Riley allows herself to go on her huge international tour then the entire world could be at risk. 
Scott is the movie’s secret weapon, bringing an energy to the film that manages to elevate every scene she’s in. Though they don’t get nearly as much screen time, Lukas Gage and Kyle Gallner (from the original film) are also excellent.
Though the sheer amount of jump scares can wear thin – at the movie needs to do a better job of trusting its atmosphere – the movie heads in some fascinating directions. If there is another sequel, “Smile 2” ensures that it will have some terrifying places to play. 
Grade: Three stars
Saturday Night (in theaters)
“Saturday Night” is a fascinating history, but I’m not sure how much of a comedy it is. 
The new movie plays somewhat fast and loose with its claim to chronicle the chaotic 90 minutes before the first-ever episode of “Saturday Night Live,” full of contradictions and moments that wouldn’t occur until years in the future. Still, it does a wonderful job of capturing the backstage energy of the show’s early days, full of tempestuous young performers who weren’t yet the icons we know today. Though there’s a certain amount of nostalgia and mythologizing, director Jason Reitman mostly manages to give the movie an in-the-moment feel that makes it seem like you’re backstage with everyone. 
The cast really adds to the experience. Gabriel LaBelle is great as a young Lorne Michaels, and Cory Michael Smith and Dylan O’Brien are uncannily good at bringing Chevy Chase and Dan Aykroyd to life. The women don’t get nearly enough attention, but the moments we do get with them shine.
All together, though, it’s really more a movie about comedy than it is a comedy. We see the laughter but not the early sketches that caused that laughter, and even discussions about making comedy are mostly ignored for another snippet of character history. Yes, it’s funnier than most of the show’s recent seasons, but that’s such a low bar it shouldn’t be enough to qualify. 
If you want laughs, watch the old episodes themselves. If you want to get some sense of how hard it was to make those episodes happen, “Saturday Night” is here for you.
Grade: Three stars
Jenniffer Wardell is an award-winning movie critic and member of the Utah Film Critics Association. Find her on Twitter at @wardellwriter or drop her a line at [email protected]
Credit for photo ©Paramount Pictures