Exorcist: The Beginning (2004)'s activity

Edit: watched Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist the day after watching this. What follows is my review of "Dominion" taking the contrast into account.

"The Beginning" and "Dominion" are the essentially the same movie released one year apart. Same basic plot, much of the same cast. I knew this going onto "Dominion", but not going into "The Beginning".

This is an excellent demonstration of how the less tangible aspects of film-making can completely change the end product. Despite being in some sense essentially the same, they're completely different movies.

"The Beginning" feels very much like it's shot closer to the time period in which it's set. It's a slow and reserved movie.

In "Dominion", it very much feels like it was made in the 2000-2009 decade. Themes are more on-the-nose. There are more clear-cut divisions between the "good guys" and the "bad guys". The movie is faster paced, it's never in as much danger of feeling boring. And despite the more contemporary feel, it manages to have a gravity in some scenes that makes it in some ways more compelling than the older-feeling "The Beginning". Of course, that gravity is undone several times in the movie from classic cases of earlier attempts at CGI not working well, especially to people who are used to better CGI.

In the end I like these movies about as much as each other, for very different reasons.

If you can't handle slow paced movies that feel old, skip "The Beginning". If (very noticeable) bad CGI ruins movies for you, stay away from "Dominion". Otherwise, either is fine, and if neither are ruled out, I'd recommend it as an interesting case study. The contrast was very enjoyable.

I rated both movies 3 out 5 on Letterboxd.