.png)
Lassie did in fact, come home
I only want to start off this review by saying that I hope and pray for continued recovery for Timothy Omundson.
The details of a film’s star rating in this blog generally go as follows:
3 Stars for beginning, middle, and end of the story
Star for casting/acting
Star for everything else- cinematography, soundtrack, etc.
Bonus Star 1- for marketing, release date, etc.
Bonus Star 2- for storyline fitting in with prequels/sequels, end credit scenes, etc.
If you would like to see a more detailed outline of how a film’s rating is created by me, there is a blog post on my dedicated page to just that. Also, I don’t do spoilers. I won’t mention any major plot twists or endings but I will hint at things and mention scenes that don’t give away any of those major points.
Let’s get into it.
Beginning: Full Star here. I felt that the young-Carlton scene was the perfect way to start off this film. It set up Lassie’s character for the entirety of the movie. I also enjoyed seeing Morrissey back, such a good dog. My favorite character set-up in the beginning was Henry. I was not a fan of the somewhat-hippie Henry in Psych: The Movie (2017) so I was pleasantly surprised when good ol’ Henry reappeared in this film. In full Psych fashion, Psych 2 (2020) starts off strong with the jokes.
Middle: The middle is only going to get a half star from me. The plot points here seemed played out since they already had a Psych episode with Lassie and ghosts/paranoia/hallucinations. There are also instances where Gus can suddenly handle dismembered hands and a strange man’s feet, things Gus from the television show would not have been okay with. Having Gus overcome those “issues” is a fine choice but you then need to give your audience an explanation for why that change occurred after eight seasons of scared-Gus. I also never saw or heard a full explanation for why Shawn did not want Juliet investigating or vice versa. They briefly explained certain parts like sworn to secrecy or departmental reprimands but those situations had more to deal with why they couldn’t let everyone know what they were doing, never why they wouldn’t be able to tell each other.
The plot twist was good, but again predictable since this film is so similar to the previous television show episode I mentioned earlier. I did still enjoy watching it play out in this movie, but it didn’t really do anything for me in terms of feeling like I received new Psych content to watch. There were some great Shawn and Henry moments. Their relationship has always been my favorite to watch. Their moments together are always so well crafted and thought out.
End: Full star. I do not have much to say for this part of the movie, which is not a bad thing in this case. It was a typical Psych ending. The bad guy gets caught, character realization comes into play, a feel-good moment happens, and a funny joke closes it all out. This is the type of ending I came to expect and enjoy when the show was on-air, and it is the ending I continue to enjoy with the Psych franchise films.
Casting/Acting: Full star. So many fan-favorites are back! I loved them all. A couple notable mentions are: Kurt Fuller, Sage Brocklebank, and Jimmi Simpson. I have always admired the casting for this franchise. They do such a good job of bringing back favorites as well as finding great talent for new characters. For example, they brought in Sarah Chalke. Any chance to see her play doctor/nurse is a chance I will take.
Everything Else: Full star. I do want to point out that the jokes are more PG-13 this go around, rather than the previous mostly-PG. I definitely have to positively shout-out the set design team. The building for the hospital set was practically perfect and they brought it back to the original Psych office for a few scenes which was great to see.
Bonus 1: Half star. Going onto the new streaming service Peacock was a fine choice in my opinion, but not good enough to be considered a star-worthy choice. The reason Psych 2 (2020) gets half a star from me here is because the trailer was a very good representation of the film.
Bonus 2: Full Star. The creators did a good job of syncing up with the previous television episodes as well as continuing on from where the first movie left off. I was especially surprised to find that, at least for me, this film retained more of the characters’ personality from the TV series than the first movie did. That was my main reservation with the first Psych film but this new movie corrected that negative for me. I also felt like they left off this film with enough forward momentum that they could continue on with a third movie.
Overall: If I had to make any one claim against Psych franchise movies, it would be this: I wish we had more “psychic” moments put back in. That, for so long, was such a big part of the television series and it was fun to watch Shawn figure things out that way. I think it could add a lot in terms of familiarity to any movies going forward. However, the creators of these films have done a good job of retaining aspects of the original show in these new movies and I will continue to watch them as long as they continue to make them.
I want to close by mentioning that I really wanted to see more of Ewan O’Hara (played by John Cena). I was actually hoping this second movie would be about their mysterious trip to Norway. But who knows, maybe Psych 3 could delve into that, or it could get a spin-off altogether. I would definitely watch that.
So let me know:
Did you watch Psych the TV show?
Do you like the movies or think they should do a new series instead?
How do you feel about the crime-comedy genre?
Comments