I really don’t think there’s a subgenre for Candyman, and that’s Okay. That said, I would say the 2021 movie was nearly everything that a modern follow up to the original needed. I need to re-watch it and remind myself of the details, but while the original has roots deep in understanding the roots of racial inequality, 2021 took it into a whole new level and depth, not to mention coming from a black perspective which is a glaring absence from the original. The only major flaw of 2021 is the score. It desperately needed something to match the original Philip Glass score which turns the first movie into a sacred experience. The conventional score of 2021 Candyman doesn’t detract from an otherwise stellar piece of cinema, but it doesn’t elevate it either. That one flaw aside, Candyman 2021 is breathtaking. Its lukewarm critical reception, in my eyes, speaks large volumes about how little credence they were willing to give a feature film directed by a black woman. I read some of those reviews and I have to wonder of they paid any attention to the movie they were watching.
