MovieChat Forums > Halloween: Resurrection (2002) Discussion > Sorry, I just don't by the paramedic ret...

Sorry, I just don't by the paramedic retcon

posted 12 years ago by Vaajraath
38 replies | jump to latest

Okay, I can buy the idea that Michael would be smart enough to pull a switcharoo with with a paramedic and escape into the night, but the way it was executed in H20, there's just no way that could possibly have been a regular person. Who -other than Michael Myers- could possibly survive being launched headfirst out of a vehicle, being rammed head on at top speed, and being toppled down a hill and crushed up against a tree by a huge van? If that were a paramedic, he would have been dead, or at least writhing in severe agony. This guy was just slightly dazed by the whole experience.... because it was Michael.

Also, don't get me started on the whole mask thing. We see in the opening flashback that it wasn't stapled onto his head or anything. The guy could have very easily removed the mask, and why wouldn't he when he was obviously being confused for someone else? Because it wasn't a paramedic in H20; it was Michael.

True, it could possibly work in theory, but with the way it all played out in H20, there is no way that was not Michael. imho.

[–] 12 years ago

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[–] Vaajraath 12 years ago

Also I never mentioned the exchange that took place between Laurie and Michael. They have this bitter sweet exchange. He may have been a psychopath, but he was still her brother, the only family she had left. Deep down, I think she wanted to find some connection with him. Maybe she even cared for him or loved him in a sad, forsaken sort of way. At the very least, she was looking on him in his pitiful state, and felt a bit sorry for him. She reached out to him, thinking for a moment that she was seeing a bit of humanity left in him.

But then she looks into his eyes.....

It's undeniable. They make eye contact. If it were the paramedic, she would have seen the eyes of a scared and confused man in great pain- definite humanity. That's not what Laurie saw, though. She looked into Michael's eyes and saw, as Loomis so eloquently says it

...the blackest eyes, the devil's eyes.

Laurie looked into Michael's eyes and saw what Loomis had seen. She knew then that, as much as she wanted to find some shred of humanity left in her brother, there was none to be found. Her brother was and always would be an evil psychopath through and through. Upon this realization, Laurie took the appropriate action.

For me, it was truly the most fitting way to conclude the Halloween saga.

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[–] Vaajraath 12 years ago

To be honest, H,H2, and H20 are my personal favorites. It works great as a trilogy and tells a complete story by the end.

H6 did kind of get screwed over, although it is a bit of a mess itself. The Producers cut or whatever it is was definitely better than the theatrical version, but it's still..... I don't know. Things just got very convoluted and unnecessarily complicated by that point, which is why H20 decided to just nix the whole cult subplot and go back to the basics.

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[–] dave626 11 years ago

Friday continuity went out the window in part 3. For one thing, it takes place after Friday the 13th, on that Sat. and Sun. and 4 takes place days after that. Rob in part 4 mentions his sister Sandra from part 2 who had been killed less than a week earlier.

"He came home." - Dr. Sam Loomis from the original HalloweeN

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[–] Doc110894 10 years ago

Fun thread.

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[–] reaseltbim 11 years ago

If they were going to make more sequels, why ended this way? that makes no sense?

WTF is wrong with Hollywood people? they have planned more sequels but they totally kill him off? wtf

right....

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[–] reaseltbim 11 years ago

i see
right....

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[–] reaseltbim 10 years ago

saying right... used to be my signature before lol

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[–] reaseltbim 10 years ago

the truth is you were the only one haha 

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[–] johnrobertson2356 10 years ago

Actually that's not completely true. If you listen to the new audio commentary for H20 that's on the new boxset that came out recently, Jamie explains that she wanted the series to end with H20 and Michael being killed off but the producers didn't, so they eventually reached a compromise in which she would agree to do a cameo in the next movie in exchange for filming the ending in which Michael's head is chopped off, but with the understanding that the next movie would reveal it wasn't really Michael. Jamie agreed to that compromise. So she definitely knew ahead of time that it was going to later be revealed that it wasn't really Michael she killed.

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[–] JediColt 9 years ago

Actually that's not completely true. If you listen to the new audio commentary for H20 that's on the new boxset that came out recently, Jamie explains that she wanted the series to end with H20 and Michael being killed off but the producers didn't, so they eventually reached a compromise in which she would agree to do a cameo in the next movie in exchange for filming the ending in which Michael's head is chopped off, but with the understanding that the next movie would reveal it wasn't really Michael. Jamie agreed to that compromise. So she definitely knew ahead of time that it was going to later be revealed that it wasn't really Michael she killed.

ok, they can say this all they want, but there is just no way that they intended for it to be a paramedic the whole time while filming H20. As the OP says, no normal human being would react the way Michael does to being thrown through a windshield, run over, ran down a hill and pinned to a truck. The retcon says his throat was crushed so he couldn't talk. At no point in the end to H20 does "ParaMichael" touch his neck or throat or in ANY WAY indicate his throat was injured.

Absolutely NO ONE in the theater thought the mask touching thing indicated it wasn't Michael, because its not how the scene played out. It played out as Michael frustrated that he couldn't move and couldn't get to Laurie. He didn't know what to do. His whole life was a singular mission to kill Laurie, and here he was, inches away from her but no way to reach her. Its not a paramedic asking for help.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

Agreed. Not to mention the four years between the films. I don't buy in any way they knew going into H20 that there would be a sequel. It was supposed to end it.

[–] BigWhiskers 10 years ago

It was a lame excuse to make yet another unnecessary sequel. Why can't they just move on to something else. No , they beat a dead horse over and over.
It was quite obvious that originally she finally ended it by killing Michael Myers
once and for all. End of story

"So, a thought crossed your mind? Must have been a long and lonely journey"

[–] jcmgee 10 years ago

The story was actually meant to end after part 2. Loomis sacrifices himself in order to stop Myers' destructive reign. End of story.

[–] johnrobertson2356 10 years ago

Actually if you want to get technical, the story was supposed to end with the first movie. Carpenter never wanted there to be any sequels and was basically forced into writing the script for Part 2.

[–] jcmgee 10 years ago

Very true. I wish it had ended after the first one.

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[–] MaximumMadness 9 years ago

The entire first 10-or-so minutes (ret-con and hospital sequence) is what sets this film down the path of becoming unintentional self-parody. (Which is then subsequently solidified by the constant onslaught of moronic moments throughout- glass shattering from a scream, cheesy "trendy" reality-show angle, kung-fu fight, Michael getting zapped in the balls and an accompanying "Ooooooo!" in the soundtrack, etc.)

The ret-con is so lazy and so unbelievably condescending to viewers (especially after the clear love and effort put into H20), I still can't believe how bad it was.

I just can't buy it for one second either. It was awful and made no sense within the context of what we see in H20.

And FURTHERMORE, this is my signature! SERIOUSLY! Did you think I was still talking about my point?

[–] T-eschberger 9 years ago

I've never felt more insulted as a fan and a cinema goer than I did while watching H8. As a horror fan I'm not even a Halloween mega fan. I love the first 3 and H20. The rest can screw off. I find 4-6 mostly bland, boring, and lacking in creativity or care. But those first 2 and H20 I will always have a soft spot for.
I've just...never felt the greed of a studio and producer leak through a movie as plainly as it does in H8. I don't like feeling overwhelming hate for films. If I don't like a movie, I just forget it. But H8 brings out the movie snob in me. I've tried giving it another shot just to see if I can enjoy it as a dumb slasher flick...but everything about it is so phony and forced I can't even get into it on a superficial level. The characters and dialogue are so fake feeling and forced it's embarassing. The plot is dated as HELL and it's just...it's just a f--king crime of a film.

H20 ended it perfectly. PERFECTLY.

[–] Halloweenfan70 8 years ago

H20 was a better film and should've ended the series. Resurrection is better them the sequels, but not as the last film of the series.

[–] MaximRecoil (4647) 6 years ago

"Sorry, I just don't by the paramedic retcon"

It wasn't a retcon, but it was done so ineptly that it looks exactly like a retcon. All of your points are valid, but they were the result of the filmmakers trying to make it look like Michael Myers was killed without him actually being killed, and doing a terrible job of it.

Moustapha Akkad wouldn't agree to killing off Michael Myers, and the "looks like he was killed but later revealed to be a paramedic switcheroo" thing was the compromise he agreed to. You can listen to Jamie Lee Curtis explain it all here - https://youtu.be/ARQft5fklRY?t=2039.

[–] TommyJarvis82 (2577) 5 years ago

They probably should have kept the ambiguous ending they were planning on because that paramedic switcheroo is garbage.