For 29 years Candyman fans have been waiting for the 1992 classic to get the sequel it deserves. It looked that was finally about to happen after all these years thanks to Nia DaCosta and, to a lesser extent, Jordan Peele. The social commentary that was largely absent in Farewell to the Flesh and Day of the Dead would be returning to add some much needed depth back into the mix without the white influence that, while well-meaning back then, would not have been met so warmly today, and maybe with the same kind of creative chills that made Get Out and Us so exciting. Unfortunately the wait goes on as despite the appearance of some incredible ideas this 2021 continuation falls short of its own lofty ambitions by backing itself into a self-defeating corner. The issue is that it's actively trying to be a sequel. It's clear that DaCosta and crew want to transform the titular character from the ghost of one African-American's suffering into an instrument of black vengeance. He's no longer just Daniel Robitaille. He's Eric Garner. He's Tamir Rice. He's George Floyd. At least until he's not anymore and becomes Daniel Robitaille again in an ending that contradicts everything the film had spent so long trying to set up and completely wastes Tony Todd anyways. This problem arises because in an effort to correct the perspective of its predecessor that came from it being a product of its time, they incorrectly wrote themselves into a position where he basically HAD to come back. A large portion of the running-time is dedicated to establishing connections and ties to the original, so we're constantly reminded of who the Candyman was there and eagerly await his return. Something that makes the appearance of this "Sherman" dude in his place rather irritating. It makes sense from a thematic standpoint, but man is it unfilling. Worse is that they could have gotten away with it had they not kept referencing what Bernard Rose had created prior. They made it so the past hangs over everything like an oppressive cloud that kills any enthusiasm for what's actually here when they should have gone the full reboot route and given their own ideas room to breathe. Speaking of room to breathe, this is one of those rare cases where a longer runtime would have been a good thing. A core component of the plot is the main character's gradual physical and mental descent into becoming someone (or something) in a way he doesn't seem fully aware of. Only it's not so gradual at all. He just seems to go insane from the moment he says the summoning words into a reflective surface, which feels unnatural and rushed. It's a cool body horror element that also never really comes into fruition. In fact, the horror side as a whole fails to deliver. DaCosta relies on cheap gore rather than truly effective frights to get the job done, kind of missing the point when it comes to what made the first Candyman scary. Most of the time though it's too caught up in its own dull plotting, unresolved threads, and hollow characters making the whole thing a bit of a bore. All of which might have been acceptable had there have been a satisfying payoff, but for the aforementioned reasons it shoots itself in the foot preventing that from being a possibility. While this may be a movie with a lot of ideas that don't come together, it only crumbles under the weight of one. It should have unshackled itself from the past entirely. Never mentioned Helen Lyle or brought back Todd for the few brief seconds he's in here. As by placing itself in the shadow of that earlier work, it has put certain expectations on itself that it feels the need to fulfill just as much as the audience needs to see them be fulfilled. This is not only a shame, but frustrating as well as it keeps the film's own bold and compelling reinvention of the property from ever taking hold when you can totally see how it could have succeeded if they hadn't of attempted the fruitless balancing act of fidelity and emendation. If there's one thing its flawed conclusion is good for though it's that it leaves the door still open for the possibility of this franchise not just being a one hit wonder at some point in the future, how ever delusional that hope may be. As of right now though, many will be left wanting for a while longer yet. This 2021 version, promising though it was and brilliant in brief instances, is (accidentally) counterproductive in the worst way.