I went to watch this movie last weekend. I like movies but I'm not an expert or anything, and I don't have the best taste so take my opinion with a grain of salt. We went because my wife wanted to watch it.
I liked it. I have to confess that I expected less, but it was funny, it was entertaining, I think there was a jump scare that got me but overall, while it doesn't feel like a proper horror movie, the "scary" scenes don't feel silly.
I liked the characters dynamic and LaKeith Stanfield is definitely a great actor, even here where the material doesn't require too much acting, he definitely elevates the film. He's the straight man and even then, he stands out among the rest of the quirky characters.
The only moment I felt like something was missing or wasn't very well done was the scene where
spoiler
LaKeith's character is trying to convince the child to not go to "his father". I felt like we got a couple of scenes of them together where convincing him is believable, but nothing that was said seemed to me enough to actually convince him. We know that it's not his father but the child doesn't and LaKeith never says that, we know that if the kid goes there he'll die and the bad guy will take his soul but the child doesn't know that and LaKeith doesn't say it, we know LaKeith cares a lot for the child and his mom (that's why we have those previous scenes) but, again, he doesn't say that. He just convinces the kid by being persistent on saying "you have to come with me".
I don't know if it's actually a big problem but I remember thinking about that scene while I was actually watching the movie. Just a small and maybe ridiculous complaint I wanted to get off my chest.
After the cinema my wife was really excited explaining to me the lore and the references, so I think it's a better experience if you're familiar with the ride and the previous movies, but it's still a fun movie to watch.
Bars, because I live in a third world country with subpar and barely maintained public transport handles aren't even an option. I suspected what handlers are but I actually had to look them up just to be sure.