The Child’s Play series isn’t really much different or unique from other horror series when it comes to the quality and direction of the movies. Much like a series like Halloween, Child’s Play had a pretty good first entry that’s actually decently scary and is fun to rewatch every now and then, but then movie studios saw the franchise potential in it and exploited the hell out of it. As a result, much like these other horror series, the sequels are a bit of a mixed bag, but for the most part they were never able to stack up to the first movie. Not only that, but they started to shift into a more campy tone, embracing the ridiculousness of the concept in favor of going for more legitimate scares.

While the concept of a killer doll already requires some level of suspension of disbelief, Child’s Play 2 really requires you to not think too hard about it in order for it to exist. Chucky was burned alive and killed at the end of Child’s Play, so it was already going to be hard to explain him being alive again, but what ends up happening is that the toy company that made him takes the remains of the doll and…rebuilds him? This is kind of just grazed over, and it seems like the company just wants to restore their reputation that they’ve now lost, but I just don’t see why they went through the trouble of rebuilding Chucky. It doesn’t make sense, but it’s what happens, and so now Chucky is alive again. He’s still possessed, though, and so he makes it his mission to find Andy and finish the job of getting himself out of the doll’s body before he’s stuck inside of it permanently. Andy is now living in foster care, since his mother is now in a psychiatric hospital, and no one believes him about Chucky trying to kill him. I find this to be another stretch in logic to be honest. While I can buy that no one would believe a child or a woman in a mental hospital, the cop from the first movie also fully witnessed Chucky trying to kill Andy, so it’s a bit of a stretch to believe that NO ONE believes that Chucky was really alive. But anyway, this is the case, and so Andy runs into some trouble with his new foster family when he tries to convince them that Chucky is trying to kill him again.

But anyway, I don’t think most people come to this series for the story. I think most of us are just in it to see a killer doll running around killing people, and Child’s Play 2 does at least still deliver on that. Story-wise, it’s a bit of a rehash, since it just features Chucky going after Andy again, but otherwise it feels like a pretty different movie. The main thing that feels different is the tone. While the first movie goes for a horror vibe more often, Child’s Play 2 puts in a bit more camp. Much like how the Nightmare on Elm Street movies really started to lean into Freddy Kreuger’s personality over time, Child’s Play 2 starts to do the same thing with Chucky here. The movie embraces the fun factor of having a killer doll as its antagonist, and it starts to feature more of the smartass one-liners that Chucky is best known for. While it could be argued that a good reason to watch the first movie is for its scary concept, Child’s Play 2 begins the trend that you’re basically only going to want to watch these movies to see what Chucky will try to do next. This kind of tonal shift doesn’t inherently make the movie better or worse, but rather it just depends on what you want out of it.

It’s probably not surprising, but overall I just don’t think Child’s Play 2 is nearly as strong as the first movie. I can rewatch the first movie pretty frequently, but I can’t say that I’d always want to do the same with this sequel. However, I don’t really think it’s a bad movie either. It just feels a lot more safe than I would have liked, and while it does lean a bit more into Chucky’s personality, there are also times where it’s just trying to replicate what the first movie did, and it never really hits that mark well. It has some entertaining parts sprinkled throughout, but then there are also boring moments littered between. I think that the best part of the movie is easily its climax, as it’s the only section of the movie that I could even argue might be better than the first movie. It’s genuinely thrilling, it takes place in a very interesting location, and it provides many gruesome and memorable moments for slasher fans. Upon rewatching this movie, I found that the only section that had really stuck with me over the years was the climax, and it was just as awesome to watch again now as it was years ago for me.

In the end, I think it’s just best to know what you’re getting into with these kinds of movies. Fans of any long-running horror franchise will always know that the sequels rarely stack up to the original, and so if you’re planning on watching through the Chucky franchise, just keep this in mind. I’ve definitely seen far worse sequels, though, so while Child’s Play 2 might not be as good as the first movie, it still has its merits that make it worth watching. I’d only recommend it to people that have seen the first Child’s Play movie and want more Chucky, but if you do fall in this camp then give it a shot as long as your expectations are tempered.

3/5