WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD
'Five Nights at Freddy’s 2' debuted Dec. 5, guiding audiences through a narrative that stumbles as awkwardly as the animatronics on screen — but still manages to entertain.
'Five Nights at Freddy’s,' also known as FNAF, is based on the indie horror game of the same name. The video game’s lore is dense, with many, many fans trying to piece together the intense storyline from 11 games. The FNAF movie franchise draws on the video game’s lore and spins it in an entertaining way.
The movie picks up where the first installment, which premiered in 2023, left off. Mike Schmidt (Josh Hutcherson), his little sister, Abby (Piper Rubio) and local police officer-turned-ally Vanessa Shelly (Elizabeth Lail) all try to navigate life after a frightening experience at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. Abby misses her old friends, and the group unravels more of the lore surrounding William Afton (Matthew Lillard), who is also Vanessa’s father.
It’s devastating to say that Lillard doesn’t play as pivotal a role as he did in the first film — an interesting choice by director Emma Tammi. His performance in the first movie was standout, and it’s a shame he and his 1996 'Scream' co-star Skeet Ulrich, Henry Emily in FNAF, are underutilized in what could have been a horror classic.
FNAF voice actor Kellen Goff voiced Toy Freddy and Foxy, with Matthew Patrick and Megan Fox coming to fill Toy Bonnie and Toy Chica’s shoes. Fox delivered Chica’s lines well, but audiences didn’t hear much from Goff and Patrick, which was disappointing.
When introduced to the toy animatronics, there’s a mysterious vibe. They’re kept hidden for a good portion of the film, but when they’re finally revealed, they look perfect and are almost exact replicas of their game counterparts. It’s truly an homage to the game's fans.
However, the way they move is distracting. They look great, sure — but it’s strange how these massive robots manage to take anyone out without sounding like a marching band first.
It’s hard to ignore the clunky plot this movie tries to unravel, with a lore that’s more confusing than the video games; it’s no wonder this movie relied so heavily on jump scares.
There is something to be said, though, about the jump scares, particularly one where Toy Chica stands by Abby’s bed. Chica’s chest opens up to reveal The Marionette’s mask, which quickly moves toward the camera. When The Marionette processes Abby, she slithers around the Schmidt household — there’s something truly frightening to see a long, spindly creature crawling around on the floor in the dark.
This movie is very "CreepyPasta"-esque (if you know, you know), and it’s campy. 'Five Nights at Freddy’s 2' has a style that most comedic horror movies lack.
All in all, this movie is equal parts terrifying and hilarious, mostly because the animatronics are scarier when they’re walking around rather than when they’re attacking.
