My Review

My Review of the Second Five Nights at Freddy’s Movie

In the wake of a new era of filmmaking, video-game films are just going to get more and more common. Five Nights at Freddy’s is no exception, of course, as the first FNaF film adaptation made nearly $300,000,000 worldwide in contrast to its $20,000,000 budget. All of this is to say that the FNaF 1 movie was successful, received well among both fans and some critics, and gained the producers—Jason Blum, Emma Tammi—further confidence to continue forth with the second film.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 (The Movie) was not received well by critics. It was given a stark 5.5/10 rating by many and a 16% on Rotten Tomatoes. The main issues brought up by critics like IGN is the PG-13 rating and the “confusing story.” So? Here’s my review.

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Background

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 (the film) is set one year after the events of the first film. Mike Schmidt and Vanessa Shelly (Afton) have shielded Abby from the truth about the possessed animatronics she calls her “friends.” The traumatic incidents at the abandoned Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza have morphed into a local legend, sparking the town’s inaugural Faz-Fest celebration.

Missing her friends—Freddy, Bonnie, Chica, and Foxy—Abby sneaks away to reunite with them. This act awakens the Marionette (possessed by the vengeful spirit of Charlotte Emily, murdered by William Afton earlier), who begins possessing others and unleashing new Toy Animatronics on a rampage.

As dark origins of the pizzeria are revealed—including flashbacks to Afton’s crimes and his partnership with Henry Emily—the survivors confront escalating supernatural horrors, leading in a chaotic battle that leaves unresolved threats, including hints of Afton’s return as Springtrap and Charlotte’s spirit possessing Vanessa.

My Thoughts

I personally loved the movie. I felt the film was a huge service to the fans and wasn’t all that confusing. Again, the FNaF film series is a FAN series, not a CRITICS series—It’s made for the fans. The film did good at connecting further tragedy to another pizzeria and tied it all back into Vanessa, Mike and Abby’s story pretty well. It played off old conflicts, Vanessa lying, and made new conflicts, Michael Afton, Vanessa’s brother, attempting to continue William Afton’s legacy. The film’s PG-13 rating was somewhat of a killer, and some of the jumpscares could’ve been better, but it did not deserve the rating it got.

Michael being a villain, also, seems as if it’s a direct nod to an old-timey theory pushed by many FNaF fans after FNaF 3. It was that Purple Guy (now confirmed to be William Afton) was actually Michael Afton. It lined up perfectly, William the teacher who’s no longer teaching and Michael the student ready for graduation. I think they pulled that off perfectly.

Also, the realism of this story outmatched the first. It felt more tied into how life is in small towns and felt more grounded in reality. Overall, it outmatched the first film by a long shot.

RATING — 7.3/10