It isn’t every day that a movie leaves a verbose film critic at a loss for words, but that day has now come. Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 is directed by Emma Tammi and stars Josh Hutcherson, Elizabeth Lail, and Piper Rubio reprising their roles from the previous film from two years ago. It goes without saying that it is off to a roaring commercial success, making back its budget and then some in its opening weekend, and will likely go on to continue to dominate the box office for the next couple of weeks. Despite the success it has seen, does it live up to the hype? Or is it as rotten as a 20-year-old slice of pizza? Let’s find out!
The story of the film serves as both a prequel and a sequel to the previous film, mostly taking place after but also sprinkling in some previously unknown backstory to expand the lore of the series. The plot is also more ambitious than the last one, juggling many storylines and characters throughout. Unfortunately, this does not work to its benefit. The plot is a convoluted mess that jumps from plotpoint to plotpoint at a breakneck speed while also feeling as though nothing is happening for most of its runtime. The actors do not seem all that invested in their characters, and seem to be phoning it in for the most part. Though, they can hardly be blamed since the script gives them next to nothing to work with. The characters are all written to feel like NPCs, too clueless to make logical or motivated choices, serving as nothing more than pawns to keep the contrived plot moving along. This ultimately leads to an unsatisfying cliffhanger ending that comes out of nowhere and leaves the viewer thinking “that’s it?”.
The one bright spot to this film is the same as the previous film: the special effects. The animatronic characters are a well-crafted blend of practical effects, actors in suits, and a little CGI mixed in at key moments. Despite the glaring issues with the rest of the experience, the effects are unlikely to take anyone out of the experience. However, their silly and cartoony nature made them feel much more comical than scary, making it a horror movie that would only be effective in scaring a younger audience.
While this movie didn’t have much for a grown adult to sink their teeth into, it would be malpractice to not mention how well it seems to be connecting with young audiences. This is largely due to it being based on a video game that many children and teens have played. The tone of the film is also more light-hearted than what an adult horror fan will be looking for, but is just dark and edgy enough to entice younger people. Perhaps this serves as a good introductory horror film for those wanting to get into the genre, but that is genuinely the most positive thing that can be said about it.
