Matt O’Connor
(Warning: Contains Spoilers)
The first Five Nights at Freddy’s film was released back in 2023, and the highly anticipated sequel is here. I’ve been following the extensive history of this franchise ever since the first game came out over 10 years ago, and watching this series make its big screen debut was a crazy experience. While I didn’t think the first film was very good, it still was a decent adaptation of the source material. Two years later, we’ve got a film that promised to address the criticisms of the first one, but did it successfully accomplish that goal? Well, not really. Strap in, this is gonna be a long one folks.
The Cast
One year has passed since the events of the first film, and most of the main characters from the first film are back for the sequel. Josh Hutcherson gives another solid performance as Mike Schmidt. I thought he was just okay in the first film, but he definitely upped his game for this movie. Similarly, Elizabeth Lail as Vanessa was a lot more consistent throughout the movie. The big twist from the first movie of her being the daughter of William Afton kind of came out of nowhere, but the flashbacks and exploration of her backstory flesh things out nicely. Piper Rubio is way better as Abby this time around, as I originally found her somewhat annoying. But she actually gets some really solid scenes especially towards the end. Of course, having MatPat play Toy Bonnie was a brilliant choice, but I really wish he got more lines as the character. The same thing goes for Megan Fox as Toy Chica. Mckenna Grace really only plays a small role towards the beginning and is practically forgotten by the time the credits roll. Skeet Ulrich barely got to do anything as Henry Emily, which really is a shame considering how important of a role the character has in the games. But one of my biggest gripes with these movies is how little they utilize Matthew Lillard as William Afton. For being the big bad of this franchise, Lillard was only in one or two scenes in the film. I get that everyone still thinks he’s dead, but they still could’ve done a lot more with him considering they’re hyping him up like a Marvel villain for the third film.
The Animatronics
One thing that has been consistently good about these movies is the designs of Freddy and friends. Jim Henson’s Creature Shop has perfectly translated these characters from the games onto the big screen, and this film goes even further. The Toy Animatronics look great, especially Mangle. It still baffles me that they managed to translate that character so well into live action. The Puppet was another character that I was surprised to see how well the physical prop turned out. But the Withered Animatronics stole the show for me, as they perfectly captured how terrifying their designs are. But like with William Afton, they’re criminally underutilized and really only get one scene to shine. It’s going to be crazy to see how they adapt some of the later animatronic designs considering how crazy and over the top these mascots become.
Where It All Falls Apart
Five Nights At Freddy’s 2 tries to pack in lots of complex lore and specific plot points that are directly carried over from the games. Initially, it sounds like a good thing considering that the first film felt like it was doing the bare minimum in terms of pulling inspiration from the source material. But the hyperfixation on the lore led to a plot that felt messy, rushed and left me with more questions than answers. The main antagonist of this film is the Marionette, who is possessed by Charlie Emily’s vengeful spirit. She’s the one that’s controlling all of the animatronics and driving the plot forward. But she’s characterized very differently than she is in the games. In the film, she’s malicious and purely out for revenge, whereas she’s much more somber and sort of like a parental figure to the other vengeful spirits in the games. Five Nights At Freddy’s Creator Scott Cawthon was the only writer on his film, and his script feels like it’s less focused on trying to tell a compelling story and more on packing in as many easter eggs as humanly possible. Don’t get me wrong, there were plenty of moments throughout the film that really surprised me and were good call backs to the source material, but you can’t expect hype moments to carry an entire film.
The Snoozefest In Between
One of my major complaints from the first film is how much fluff was present. A good chunk of the first and second acts contained scenes and plot points that felt completely unnecessary and didn’t need to take up so much of the runtime. Unfortunately, the fluff is even more of an issue with the sequel. The pacing is unusually slow towards the beginning, and it takes a long time before the story actually starts progressing. The whole subplot about Abby’s science fair project didn’t feel like it needed to be there and was only relevant to get the Toy Animatronics out into the open. Director Emma Tammi said multiple times in interviews that they were looking to address some of the criticisms from the first film, but the filler seems to be an unfortunate constant for these movies.
Lore Over All Else
One of the big plot twists of this movie is the reveal of Freddy Carter’s character, who is actually Michael Afton. Without delving into the insane lore of the games too much, Michael Afton is the son of William Afton and another key player in the Five Nights At Freddy’s series. But at the same time, having too prominent characters in these movies who are both named Michael is a perfect representation of the biggest problem that Five Nights At Freddy’s 2 struggles with. The film is trying so hard to capture that same feeling of unraveling the lore and solving the ongoing mysteries of the Afton family like how it was in the games. But because it’s so focused on that, everything else takes a backseat and makes for a convoluted plot and a disappointing mess of a film, albeit one that I did get a decent amount of enjoyment from.
What’s Next?
While a third film hasn’t officially been announced yet, it’s practically guaranteed considering Five Nights At Freddy’s 2 is already earning big at the box office. For this third film, I really hope that they focus more on a cohesive narrative rather than strictly chucking in references and unnecessary filler. Overall, Five Nights At Freddy’s 2 was undoubtedly entertaining in many ways, but its prominent issues severely hold it back from being considered a faithful adaptation of the long running horror franchise.
