What I Didn't Like:
Okay lets get the negative out of the way. The forced attempts at humor didn't always work for me. It didn't get into Marvel quip fest territory (thankfully) but alot of the funny moments felt like they were inserted in after some studio notes or something.
While I like the idea of Laurie mirroring some of Michael's key moments from the original film (appearing outside the classroom, disappearing after being thrown off the top floor, etc.), it did get a little forced at points, especially at the end. Laurie's face appearing in the dark was probably where they overplayed their hand.
I thought the twist with the doctor was AWESOME. Or at least I did until they killed him minutes later. The twist kind of caught me off guard and I thought "Oh, the new Loomis is the bad guy...lets see where this goes!" and then it really didn't go anywhere...bummer.
And this is a minor thing, but I thought Laurie's granddaughter was a tad on the bland side. I get that they wanted her to be like a normal teenage girl like Laurie was in the first film, and they achieved that, but I guess she didn't quite connect the same way Laurie did 40 years ago because it never felt like the movie was about her. She was just "Laurie's Granddaughter" and that was it. She was hardly ever in danger too, outside of the scene in the copcar which again, awesome set up, but not much payoff.
Okay, now onto the good stuff;
It was so great hearing that music again. Halloween and Jaws are probably the two prime examples of how music in a movie almost feels like a separate character in the film all to itself. It punctuated all the right moments and added to the atmosphere and suspense.
Michael Myers is just brutal in this film, and every kill is sick. Of all the Halloween sequels, this one felt the closest to the true Michael Myers, a faceless shape that haunts the film and slowly stalks his prey, killing everyone in sight. He was truly The Shape again here, and it was great.
Building off of that, the suspense in this film is close to perfect. Every scene you know Michael is around feels like it takes years, but I mean that in a good way because it just lets you dangle and squirm in your seat waiting for the inevitable strike. And using tricks like the motion capture, the security cam, the bathroom stalls, and all of that jazz all punctuated the scenes they were used in.
Jamie Lee Curtis is great as Laurie and I like that they portrayed her as broken and damaged, giving her some of the same feel to her that Sarah Connor had in T2. Everyone thinks she's nuts but she also know whats coming and prepares for it to the extreme. The scene in the restaurant was particularly tough to watch, but in a good way, and I liked the few interactions we got between Laurie and her daughter.
Other Notes:
I have to say that one of my disappointments in the trailer was that Michael was back in the asylum. I wanted it to really dovetail off the original film by having Michael not be sighted for 40 years and Laurie preparing for his inevitable return. After seeing the movie though, the scenes of Michael in the asylum were effective and set the stage well for the film, and my earlier complaint didn't really matter too much.
Now...how did Michael get free? Honestly, I kind of love that they left it open ended and allows for additional discussion about the film, and I hope to God we never get an answer because speculation and ambiguity are fun. Hell, the Michael Myers character was all about that in the original film. Why is he doing what he's doing? Why did he kill his sister? In the original film, we never find out and that makes it scarier.
Anyways, we can assume that either Michael got free himself, the doctor somehow helped him escape, or that Laurie did it herself, all of which seem plausible given what we saw in the story.
