Doctor Sleep (2019)

Doctor Sleep

• As good as Kubrick’s ‘The Shining’ is, this movie is definitely a step down. Of course, it’s not Stanley Kubrick, so that’s one thing. But it feels like it’s such an unnecessary sequel. I know it’s based on Stephen King’s follow up novel, so it’s not like it was some random movie sequel. But I still liked having ‘The Shining’ being a standalone movie. It’s just so good, and this one feels out of place. The callbacks and references to ‘The Shining’ are great, and I do love the connection between the two movies. Seeing the big time jump with Ewan McGregor as an adult Danny was really cool. But the antagonists felt too fantastical and it felt more like an extra long episode of Doctor Who, rather than a Stephen King adaptation. The last 30-40 minutes were really good, mostly because of the return to the Overlook Hotel. But everything leading up to it was slow and a little too dragged out for me. But Ewan makes up for it, I absolutely love that man. Most of the characters were kind of dull, and as stated, the antagonists weren’t the best. Absolutely no shade at all to Rebecca Ferguson, who is a very gifted actress. But her character just wasn’t menacing and didn’t do it for me. Her and her little group was just whatever. Overall, this movie wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t great. I understand why people like it, and it does have some awesome moments, but as a whole, I just didn’t care as much as I wanted to. I may come back and revisit it though, I could see myself changing my mind. I would only recommend it to fans of ‘The Shining’.