Candyman *SPOILERS* Discussion

[SpiderByte]

So having not seen the older Candyman movies, known only by reputation, I got the stuff with Tony Todd at the end but I was kind of lost as to what the connection between the main character and him was. So the other guy wants to turn him into Candyman to...what end? Kill the white people and drive them out of the neighborhood? But why does he need the artist to do it when Candyman already killed like 8 people by that point? Is it so that now he can just whoever he feels like and not have to actually follow the name rule thing?

Edited August 29, 2021 by SpiderByte

[Cruel Summer]

and also wasnt the saying candyman 5 times thing known? if you lived around there you just had to, how come no one did? not until he made the art show thing had people said candyman 5 times in years?

[SpiderByte]

The last Candyman movie before this one, which I'm assuming is in the continuity (unless it's like the Halloween/Superman Returns thing?) came out in 1999.

[BestPicturePlutoNash]

The main themes of film are gentrification and reclaiming Black art/history from appropriation. Even a Black artist (Anthony) is capable and guilty of exploiting Black history/trauma for gain. (They say his name during news reports of kills). And so is Colman. He wants Candyman myth to remain relevant because he was forgotten in gentrified neighborhood. (Why he wants Candyman remembered beyond supporting the film’s thesis is very vague… because his sister was murdered? Because the innocent man at beginning wasn’t Candyman who scared him??). 
 

But the entire 3rd act is a mess of rushed pacing and misplaced dialogue. It just comes off politically contradictory. Candyman has killed Black lives…. Why is he being made into a BLM icon? Why? He will simply kill whoever summons him regardless of race. It was just that lots of white people summoned him in this. Colman will torture a Black man to achieve this? 

[Krissykins]

16 hours ago, SpiderByte said:

So having not seen the older Candyman movies, known only by reputation, I got the stuff with Tony Todd at the end but I was kind of lost as to what the connection between the main character and him was. So the other guy wants to turn him into Candyman to...what end? Kill the white people and drive them out of the neighborhood? But why does he need the artist to do it when Candyman already killed like 8 people by that point? Is it so that now he can just whoever he feels like and not have to actually follow the name rule thing?

Anthony was the baby that Candyman put in the bonfire in the original film to lure Helen in to rescue him. Helen managed to get the baby out before she burned to death. 
 

Candyman is able to kill people again through Yahya because he summoned him and reignited the legend. I guess it’s kind of like Freddy, if the Elm St kids don’t know about him, they can’t be scared of him.
 

Burke isn’t responsible for Anthony slowly turning into Candyman, he was just escalating the end of the process I guess to give him the required traumatic/violent incident (like the original being beaten to death, Todd’s being jumped and having his hand cut off) to cement him as this generations Candyman. 
 

15 hours ago, Cruel Summer said:

and also wasnt the saying candyman 5 times thing known? if you lived around there you just had to, how come no one did? not until he made the art show thing had people said candyman 5 times in years?

I’m guessing from Vanessa William’s scene that perhaps the people at the bonfire when Helen died maybe vowed never to tell anyone to remove the threat of it happening again. She wouldn’t let Anthony mention it and said she tried to keep it from him. 

[SnokesLegs]

39 minutes ago, Krissykins said:

Anthony was the baby that Candyman put in the bonfire in the original film to lure Helen in to rescue him. Helen managed to get the baby out before she burned to death.

Also, I might be misremembering, but wasn’t baby Anthony meant to be some kind of sacrifice for Candyman? So Anthony is effectively “the one that got away” and explains why Candyman is so intent on claiming his life in the new film.

[eddyxx]

I liked the themes about gentrification in this!

 

eta, I thought it was funny how Candyman only killed white people. I don’t remember him being discriminatory in the original lmao.

Edited August 30, 2021 by eddyxx

[The Dark Shape]

A friend of mine detailed some test screening changes. He liked the final cut better but one thing stood out to me.

 

In that version (I think it was January of 2020?), Tony Todd didn't appear at the end. It was Anthony as Candyman, and the last line was him looking at Brianna and saying "I bet you didn't know your father could fly," the same thing her dad said before killing himself.

 

That's some dark shit that I wish had still made an appearance at the end.