Monster High 2 Review

Monster High is a well-loved Mattel franchise from the 2010s. Its primary business is in dolls, which prompted the launch of dozens of shows and movies to promote the brand. So far, there are three generations of the dolls, each unique revamps of the original designs. In 2022, Monster High: The Movie came with heavy criticism, especially from fans of the original franchise. Additional fuel to the fire now comes from Monster High 2, the second installment of live-action G3 Monster High movies.

In the first movie, Clawdeen Wolf comes to terms with her secret half-human identity, joined by her two best friends: Frankie Stein, the newly made monster still learning the ins and outs of society, and Draculaura, the daughter of Dracula secretly practicing the forbidden art of witchcraft. After they save the school, the human and witch persecution supposedly disappears and they start a new era of acceptance at Monster High.

Monster High 2 starts in the following school year, as Clawdeen struggles to balance her newfound popularity, her sudden entrance into the race for prefect, and most importantly, her friendships. The new year also brings many new characters. Notably, Toralei Stripe, a werecat staple from the original series, is introduced, presenting a major difference from earlier generations, now being significantly meaner and antagonistic. Throughout the film, she pokes fun at the half-humanness of Clawdeen, encourages the school to join her hatred and fear of witches, and makes degrading comments about other monster types. Later, Toralei’s prejudices are further revealed in the dance-battle-type song, "You Don't Know," where she urges that since they don’t have a ton of knowledge about witches, they should fear them, brilliantly illustrating the ignorance that hatred is often rooted in.

The movie is seriously lacking in the tone department. The set design is largely barren, with little attention to detail. A party at Draculaura’s house is decorated by sparse Halloween balloons and otherwise looks like a plain yellow room with a couple pieces of furniture, rather than the home of vampire royalty. Other parts of the movie have similarly basic set designs and look very low-budget for a billion-dollar franchise. The intro song, "My Heart Goes Boom Boom Boom," while woefully catchy, has awkward choreography, especially with the wide framing of the scene in such an empty set. The constant monster puns similarly take away from the overall vibe, giving it a tacky feel. Inserting monster names into random words is off-putting and distracting.

This new movie also aims to connect with younger generations, with things like EepTok, their variation of social media. This sudden attempt to converge pop culture with the monster world makes somewhat sense since there are more half-human students. Nonetheless, it is bizarre that some characters have never heard of a hot dog before while others transport between worlds on the regular.

The events of the climax scene were completely unnecessary. Either the characters lack any shred of intelligence, or the writers are at a desperate loss of plot points. There were numerous simple solutions to resolve the main conflict, but instead, the characters chose the way that seemingly caused the most harm to themselves. The scene could have been an opportunity to focus on mending the relationships that had suffered throughout the plot, or even an opportunity to make the villains a little more menacing.

Surprisingly, the most unsettling part of a movie about monsters wasn’t even relevant to the plot. Draculaura’s family communicates through interconnected portraits that have a similar function to video calling. The problem arises when she keeps a life-sized portrait of her dad in the room that she shares with Frankie and Clawdeen. There is no system for “answering” the portraits, they just turn on. That is downright creepy. Whoever has the portrait at the other end, whether it be her dad or someone else, has a window directly into the room of three sophomore girls, that can be used on demand without their knowledge.

The movie was no cinematic masterpiece, but at the same time, it serves its purpose. As the movie for a doll franchise, its main purpose is to promote sales of its merchandise. The harshest criticisms and most vehement hate come from fans of the original G1 and G2 films and series’ but ultimately, the movie was not made for them. Older audiences are free to get nostalgic with their favorite characters, but the truth is that cringy, cliche, quickly-produced, serialized movies are exactly what doll-buying children crave. Yes, it was painful to watch, but at least there are some positive messages of empowerment, friendship, and compassion.