Doctor Sleep is the follow up to the 1980 Stephen King classic The Shining. The problem is that the name fits. This movie not only arrived 40 years late, but the poorly named sequel is as snooze worthy as the title would suggest. Here is my Doctor Sleep Review.
Doctor Sleep Review: Nothing to an Empty Film
Problem number one lies with the run time. Clocking in at 2 hours and 31 minutes, the first half of this movie drags horribly. Unlike The Shining, Doctor Sleep spells out the ‘shining’ ability from the first movie and expands upon it. Add in the need to set up the ‘shining eaters’ and you end up with a very long opening that takes way too long to get moving.
Once the actual conflict begins, the films pace quickens, which helps out tremendously, but even then there just isn’t much new or exciting with this sequel. Of course this would not be a true sequel if they did not take the final showdown to the original ski hotel itself. This adds even more time to the movie, but this time it at least holds meaning as it ties the two movies together pretty well.
I really do not understand the title either. Unless there is a meaning hidden in the books, what does Doctor Sleep have to do with anything in this movie? An empty title for an empty movie.
Doctor Sleep Review: No Fault with the Cast
Of the cast there can be no qualms. In the original I kept asking what idiot cast Shelley Duvall. Outside of Olive Oyl in Popeye, she really does not posses any acting talent. Even the Oscar Winner, Jack Nicholson, came off bland and unconvincing in his transformation. (Editors Note: This is quite the hot take) For Doctor Sleep, Ewan McGregor does a solid job taking Danny from a lost soul to the lead fighter.
Kyliegh Curran does a good job playing Abra Stone, the young girl who challenges the “shining eaters” with Dan’s help. She transforms from confidence to fear to fiercely determined with ease. Rebecca Ferguson does a good job as the lead bad guy, but I had to continually do double takes to convince myself she was not in fact Kate Beckinsale. If creators want to reboot the Underworld franchise, Rebecca might be a good place to start.
Doctor Sleep Review: Fans Will Be Fans
I walked out of the theater as fast as possible it was so bad. At no point was Doctor Sleep scary or even tense. It also walked the path of predictability with practiced ease; However, if you are a fan of The Shining it’s a safe bet your enjoyment of this movie will be much higher. They added plenty to Doctor Sleep to appease the fans.
