©Courtesy of Universal Pictures
Las Vegas needs a real-life Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria, but not the smaller franchise store from the first film. Fans deserve a full recreation of the bigger flagship restaurant, complete with the river ride, as revealed in the new sequel—like only Vegas could build. Mike Schmidt’s encounters in the smaller Freddy Fazbear’s sufficiently soured him on the bankrupt Fazbear brand. However, his kid-sister Abby still misses her “friends,” the pizzeria’s notorious animatronic animals. When she thought she “knew” them, they were possessed by the spirits of children murdered by Freddy Fazbear’s serial killer founder, William Afton. However, something even more sinister plays on Abby’s affections by controlling her supposed mechanical pals in Emma Tammi’s Blumhouse-produced sequel, Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, which now releases in theaters.
As fans well know, the first film freely mixed and matched the survival horror video game’s established lore, but since it was written by the game’s creator, Scott Cawthon, it is hard to object to his dramatic license. Mike Schmidt (not the Hall of Fame third baseman) had been manipulated into accepting the overnight security guard gig at the long-shuttered Freddy Fazbear’s. It was there that Abby fell under the sway of the homicidal animatronics, Freddy Fazbear and his bandmates: Bonnie, a deranged rabbit; Chica, a frighteningly gluttonous chicken; and Foxy, an eye-patch-sporting pirate fox.
Schmidt’s nasty Aunt Jane also served as a secondary villain. While her ultimate fate was left ambiguous, she is apparently gone—and not fondly remembered. However, Abby still pines for her questionable friends—so much so, she eventually returns on her own to the old Freddy Fazbear’s, hoping to fix them.
©Courtesy of Universal Pictures
Vanessa Shelly hasn’t really moved on either. Even though the former cop started kind-of, sort-of dating Schmidt, she remains tormented by nightmares of Freddy Fazbear’s and Afton, who also happened to be her father. In fact. she saw some rather terrible things in the flagship pizzeria as a little girl.
Frankly, Shelly still closely holds more secrets, many of which relate to the horrors committed at the flagship pizzeria, such as the misfortune that befalls young Charlotte during the prologue. Shelly thought she had the resulting angry spirits contained within the premises, but the sinister entities hope to use Abby to launch their jailbreak, by assuming the guise of her animatronic friends.
If you were not heavily invested in the Five Nights at Freddy’s (FNAF) franchise, the first film was surprisingly successful blending psychological horror with 1980s nostalgia for Chuck E. Cheese-like pizza-arcades and the practical life-sized animatronics created by the Jim Henson Creature Shop. Unfortunately, the sequel lacks the first film’s energy and focus. Oddly, the first-act feels downright sluggish. Admittedly, logic is not a virtue closely associated with horror movies. Nevertheless, the causal links prompting the chaotic events in the sequel often seem rather haphazard and forced, even by the genre’s modest standards.
©Courtesy of Universal Pictures
However, the best parts of the original continue to shine through in the follow-up. Josh Hutcherson again compellingly anchors the film. Like before, his earnest brotherly protectiveness still keeps the audience emotionally invested. Similarly, Freddy Fazbear and his fellow animatronics remain great “characters.” Since they were physically crafted by Henson designers and controlled by puppeteers, they look like they have real weight and palpable presences.
Fans will be happy to see Matthew Lillard is also just as creepy as ever, returning in dreams and flashbacks as slimy William Afton. However, Wayne Knight is largely wasted as Mr. Berg, Abby’s jerkweed science teacher, whose scummy behavior frequently provides cheap pretexts to advance the plot. Yet, arguably the scariest sequence focuses on a group of reality TV ghosthunters, led by Lisa (nicely played by the game McKenna Grace), who inevitably find more than they anticipated.
The richly detailed animatronic, set, and art design of the second FNAF film might look even crazier this time around. (That very specific sense of place is also why the Fazbear pizzerias cry out for the extravagant Vegas treatment). Cawthon expands the FNAF cinematic universe in intriguing ways, but the execution and editing should have been tighter. Mostly recommended for fans of the Henson Shop’s practical animatronics and old-fashioned kaiju-style “suitmation,” Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 opens this Friday (12/5) in theaters.
©Courtesy of Universal Pictures
Grade: B-
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Here’s the trailer of the film.