Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 info:
Director: Emma Tammi
Writer: Scott Cawthon
Starring: Josh Hutcherson, Piper Rubio, and Elizabeth Lail
Hello and welcome to another week here at 1guysmindlessmoviereviews.com. At this point, I think I’ve watched more horror movies in the last few weeks than I did all of October. But that’s ok, Hollywood releases them throughout the year, so I can watch them throughout the year. Even if they are a cheesy sequel to a horror video game franchise.
This week, it’s “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2”, and it has a lot of issues. There were still some enjoyable parts if you are a fan of the games or know someone who is. For more of my backstory with the franchise, see my review of the first “Five Nights at Freddy’s” on my reviews page here. But before I jump scare into this review too quickly, I have my usual spoiler warning ready. If you don’t want to know what happens in part 2 yet, then you may want to check out some of my other reviews first, then come back to finish this one.
So, “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2” (directed by Emma Tammi) picks up one year after the events of part 1. Abby Schmidt (Rubio) is still living with her brother, Mike (Hutcherson). They are trying to live as normal a life as they can while dealing with the trauma in their heads. Abby is missing her animatronic friends and spends most of her time not communicating with other kids. Mike is also still friends with Vanessa (Lail) and tries to help her cope with what happened with her dad, William (Matthew Lillard).
Things start to ramp up again as the one-year anniversary approaches, and the town has a FazzFest it’s planning to throw. Abby goes on her own to visit the broken-down pizzeria and then later brings home a FazzTalker toy in hopes of contacting them. When they actually do, she goes to the other abandoned Freddy’s pizza location to find them. She makes her way there, only to discover that they just needed her to set them free.
Once they are free, they start to go out and attack people in town. Nothing too gory or scary here. I do feel like they tried to make it kid-friendly, so it’s definitely muted on a lot of that stuff. Where “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2” really shines is how hard they lean into the game lore and Easter eggs associated with that. Almost everything else is just screen fodder in between all of that. I honestly wonder if a non-Five Nights at Freddy’s fan will even enjoy this.
When a spook hunter television show personality gets overtaken by the giant Marionette (The Puppet), Mike and Vanessa must visit the original Fazzbear’s to try and turn off the animatronics. After a bunch of weird encounters with the animatronics, they are able to turn on the trackers and find Abby. In the end, they are safe, but Vanessa is clearly hiding something, which is obviously setting up a second sequel.
I went a little faster with my recap than usual because I have a lot to cover in this next part. Let’s start with how much of this movie was unnecessary. I am being a little hyperbolic in that comment, but there is plenty. The whole part with Abby’s teacher, Mr. Berg (Wayne Knight), was messing and foreshadowed from almost the beginning. I know it gave an easy target for the animatronics, but he was overly mean to her in a way that no teacher would ever be.
Next, let’s talk about the acting. Hutcherson has never been in roles where his acting chops can flourish, but at the same time, he sort of always plays the same character. But beyond him, the whole cast wasn’t great. I’m aware that it is a sequel to a campy horror movie to start with, so maybe I had my hopes up. Even some of the people getting ready to be attacked by giant robots didn’t show much emotion.
Finally, I have to touch on the story. I know moving to a new city takes money, but I have no clue why Mike didn’t leave that town to start with. Why keep Abby there in town, where all the bad things happened to her and Mike? Really, the same could be said for Vanessa as well. Also, how far away was that pizza place? Was she really riding her bike that whole way without him knowing? I am being picky, but these are things that I think about as a dad when I see them on the screen.
Overall, there were some good moments, and if you are a fan of the franchise, then you had lots to see and Easter eggs to find. But I can’t help but wonder if the whole point of this film was to just set up a third one? Wouldn’t be the first time that’s happened. Perhaps my favorite part, though, was the introduction of Henry (Skeet Ulrich). Even though they weren’t on the screen together, having Lillard and Ulrich in a horror movie was a great idea. Maybe that can be the saving grace of part 3, perhaps? My score for part 2, however, is only a 5 out of 10.
Watch or Wait?
No question here, unless you are a big Five Nights at Freddy’s fan, there is no reason for you to run out to see this in the theaters. This can be an easy rent or buy to watch at home later, or just wait for it to hit Peacock (I assume it will be that one).
Well, that’s it for me this week. So that means it’s your turn. If you saw this, do you agree with me that it could be much better? Maybe you’re in the other camp and loved it. Either way, let me know in the comments. I’m looking to have one more review for 2025, then I will wrap up the year with my annual top ten list. So talk next week when I will be back with another mindless movie review of some sort.
