Five Nights at Freddy's 2

Director: Emma Tammi
Starring: Josh Hutcherson, Elizabeth Lail, Piper Rubio, Freddy Carter, Theodus Crane, Wayne Knight, Mckenna Grace, Teo Briones, Skeet Ulrich, Matthew Lillard, Miriam Spumpkin, Audrey Lynn Marie, Megan Fox, Kellen Goff, Matthew Patrick, David Andrew Calvillo, Grant Feely
Running Time: 104 min.
Rating: PG-13

★★★ (out of ★★★★)   

When the heavily anticipated adaptation of Scott Cawthon's popular video game series, Five Nights at Freddy's hit theaters in 2023, critics and audiences were noticeably split. While the former group seemed appalled they had to sit through PG-13 horror centered around killer animatronic animals, the franchise's fans responded far more favorably, aware of what they'd be getting. If anything, director Emma Tammi incorporated enough elements from the game to please hardcores without alienating mainstream audiences completely unfamiliar with the property, but hooked by its strange premise. 

If the first film was enjoyably flawed and crazy, it shouldn't have come as a total surprise given the nature of this material. But aside from the robotic creatures and an inspired setting, one of its better qualities came in knowing that an 'R' rating wouldn't have necessarily made a difference. Nothing felt cut or excised for commercial-friendly concerns as Tammi delivered an engaging adventure just gory enough to match the story. So you could say it's good news she's back to helm this inevitable sequel, which delivers much of the same, only bigger and messier.   

It's 2002 and two years since Mike (Josh Hutcherson), his little sister Abby (Piper Rubio) and police officer Vanessa Shelly (Elizabeth Lail) survived their showdown with Vanessa's dad and child murderer William Afton (Matthew Lillard) at the abandoned Freddy Fazbear's Pizza restaurant. Since being killed by the spirits of his victims, the legend of Afton's murders has only grown, drawing greater attention to the case and spawning a town horror festival called "Fazfest." But as a now 11-year-old Abby experiences newfound popularity at school, she still mourns the loss of her electronic animal pals Freddy, Chica and Bonnie. 

Giving Abby false hope he'll eventually repair the robots, Mike urges everyone to put what happened behind them, including Vanessa, who continues to emotionally struggle from the impact of her father's crimes. But while Abby secretly returns to the restaurant despite her brother's warnings, a group of ghost hunters arrive at a different nearby Fazbear's location where a little girl named Charlotte Emily (Audrey Lynn Marie) was shockingly murdered in 1982. And when the crew's presence awakens her spirit, the truth about how she's connected to Vanessa comes to light, putting her and Mike in a race against time to save a manipulated Abby, whose resurrected robot friends are ready for another rampage.

The film's opening sequence might be its best, flashing back to a packed, fully operational Freddy Fazbear's during a birthday party decades earlier, revealing what the franchise restaurant looked and felt like in its heyday. After initially assuming this is the now abandoned building Mike worked in as a security guard, we soon realize it's a different location, with atmosphere and attractions unique to that flagship eatery, like the Marionette, a terrifying animatronic conducting the robot animals on stage. 

Baring more than a passing resemblance to Saw's Billy the Puppet, the Marionette is a major presence when young Charlotte is slain despite all her warnings to the restaurant's oblivious, self-absorbed parents. And Vanessa's childhood friendship with this ostracized girl ends up being one of many important details she neglects mentioning to a frustrated Mike as the pair reluctantly start dating. 

Vanessa's selective secrecy, Abby's desire to reunite with Freddy and the gang despite previous events and the use of wireless technology in '82 are hurdles Cawthorne's script must clear, but instead conveniently glazes over at times. Thankfully the ghost hunting "Spectral Scoopers" (played by Mckenna Grace, Teo Briones and David Andrew Calvillo ) do serve a larger purpose while Freddy Carver's brief but creepy turn as a Norman Bates-like security guard proves a highlight. 

Seinfeld and Jurassic Park star Wayne Knight gives the film's most wildly entertaining performance as Abby's condescendingly cruel science teacher Mr. Berg. And the ubiquitous character actor hasn't lost a step, chewing scenery as a jerk authority figure that could have stepped out of an 80's comedy. More than anyone, Knight knows exactly what kind of movie he's in as we wait anxiously to see this sniveling coward get his when Abby proudly unveils her unusual robotics project. 

It's no surprise when Freddy and his friends are again on the loose, but with a soul possessing component that changes the game, giving Elizabeth Lail more interesting places to go with Vanessa. But while she still reels from PTSD stemming from her psychopathic dad, Hutcherson's Mike is fed up, burying the pain and wanting everyone to follow suit, even if he's just barely holding on. And Rubio continues to shine as the precocious Abby, whose loyalty to Chica leads to trouble.  

Playing on a similar technical and visual playing ground as its predecessor, the secondary Fazbear's location actually surpasses that with its hidden passages, trap doors and waterways. Those who hated the first film will probably still despise this, but for everyone else, it's equally fun, giving us an expanded look at the nostalgically cursed Chuck E. Cheese inspired restaurant of the film's title. With allusions to ME3GAN, The Exorcist and Saw, it may incorporate a few more influences, but remains heavily indebted to the video games that spawned it, ensuring more sequels where this came from. 

Five Nights at Freddy's

Director: Emma Tammi
Starring: Josh Hutcherson, Elizabeth Lail, Piper Rubio, Matthew Lillard, Mary Stuart Masterson, Kat Conner Sterling, David Lind, Christian Stokes, Joseph Poliquin, Grant Feely, Lucas Grant, Michael P. Sullivan
Running Time: 109 min.
Rating: PG-13

★★★ (out of ★★★★)     

The most intriguing question to come out of director Emma Tammi's Five Nights at Freddy's is whether it's possible for an adaptation of a wildly popular video game franchise to take itself too seriously. By infusing a 'PG-13' rated, Goosebumps-style horror movie about killer animatronic animals with psychological trauma and abducted children, game creator Scott Cawthon's co-written script actually overdelivers in certain ways. But whether this was the route to take and how well the film manages to pull it all together makes for a more complicated conversation. 

Seemingly attempting to channel certain elements of heavier efforts like The Black Phone while leaning into childlike fears, it doesn't fully pick a side, but still proves enough of an anomaly to deliver a pretty fun time. Its biggest strengths and weaknesses rest entirely on a multi-layered backstory that might frustrate as many as it intrigues, though it's thoroughly watchable, leaving us with an experience a bit more agreeable than its detractors are giving it credit for. 

After assaulting a father he mistakes as a kidnapper, Mike Schmidt (Josh Hutcherson) gets fired as mall security and sent to career counselor Steve Raglan (Matthew Lillard), who offers him a thankless night guard job at the now abandoned Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, a Chuck E. Cheese-like family dining establishment in the 80's and 90's. Following some hesitancy, he eventually accepts the position when social services threaten to give custody of his young sister Abby (Piper Rubio) to their nasty estranged aunt Jane (Mary Stewart Masterson).   

With Mike responsible for keeping trespassers out of the dark, decrepit building, he falls asleep on the job, haunted by nightmares of the abduction of his younger brother Garrett (Lucas Grant) years ago, receiving cryptic clues from five mysterious children who witnessed the kidnapping. Meanwhile, the restaurant's animatronic mascots, Freddy Fazbear, Chica, Foxy and Bonnie seem to have minds of their own, displaying potentially violent tendencies. Clearly knowing more than she lets on about this place's history, local police officer Vanessa (Elizabeth Lail) attempts to show Mike the ropes. But as his visions draw him closer to the truth, Abby forges a bond with her new animal robot friends.

There's actually a fair amount to unpack plot-wise, as this isn't playing strictly in the horror realm, often more interested in deeply delving into its protagonist's emotional baggage. Mike's strained relationship with little sister Abby, her mysterious drawings, his custody battle and whatever Vanessa's hiding bare the hallmarks of an overstuffed screenplay, but it's focused enough to tie all these story threads together, even if reactions to the end result will vary.

While older fans will undoubtedly complain it's not gory or violent enough because of the 'PG-13' rating, the disturbing themes more than make up for it. This isn't scary so much as unnerving, with Mike's dream sequences standing out as the best directed sections, gaining in creepiness as he closes in on the truth about his brother and the run down restaurant. The production design, cinematography and overall retro aesthetic also goes a long way in creating an atmosphere that sells this grimy ex-eatery as a once fun destination decimated by the ravages of time. In a memorable moment, Mike watches a security training video that shows how Freddy's looked like in its prime, accurately recalling many similarly themed chains of the period. 

Since there's always something vaguely unsettling about even the cutest, cuddliest looking animal mascots (especially ones that sing and dance), it doesn't take much to get onboard with them as killing machines. Brought to life by Jim Henson's Creature Shop, their origin story is ridiculously detailed, with the movie holding it cards close to the vest before unloading everything in the third act, making inventive use of its grungy surroundings.  

As the disheveled, traumatized Mike, Hutcherson makes a suitable lead, but it's young Piper Rubio who steals this out from under him as Abby with a wisely precocious and engaging child performance that seems lifted from 80's Spielberg. The Vanessa character is slightly underwritten, but You's Elizabeth Lail definitely makes the best of it, hopefully inching her closer to the breakout role she's been due. In more nefarious turns, Mary Stuart Masterson hams it up as the cartoonishly evil aunt and Matthew Lillard Scream fans won't be disappointed by how much craziness he packs into his relatively brief but unhinged slice of screen time. 

That Blumhouse's latest is splitting critics and audiences down the middle isn't exactly a surprise given its polarizing content and sometimes off kilter tone. This never bores or signals the coming cinematic apocalypse many have claimed, guilty mostly of just not conforming to the tropes of your typical video game adaptation. It's also hard to take your eyes off of, especially when trying to reconcile the story's bizarre intentions. But despite its flaws, or partially because of them, Five Nights at Freddy's is a weirdly entertaining trip that will have the uninitiated scratching their heads while the game's fans clamor for more.