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As a certain someone in the titular video game series once said, “I always come back.” And after becoming the highest grossing film ever released by Blumhouse, it should be no surprise that the same goes for the film adaptation series. Hence where we are right now: “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2” is here and promises to be scarier and more violent, with more lore and animatronics than before. A bigger budget certainly backs up that claim, but does any of it come to fruition, or is it all just kiddie stuff?
This sequel follows Mike Schmidt, played by Josh Hutcherson (“The Hunger Games,” “The Kids Are All Right”), attempting to put the events of the first film behind him for the sake of his sister Abby, played by Piper Rubio. Abby still harbors an obsession with Freddy, Chica, Bonnie, and Foxy, the animatronic characters from the first film. After an electronic device begins to communicate with her, encouraging her to find her old friends at the first Freddy Fazbear’s restaurant, Mike and Vanessa, played by Elizabeth Lail (“You,” “Mack & Rita”), the daughter of Freddy’s murderous creator William Afton, played by Matthew Lillard (“Scream (1996),” “Scooby-Doo (2002)”), set off to find her before she can be found by an animatronic puppet housed within the original location: the Marionette.
Whereas the first film featured series creator Scott Cawthon as a writer alongside multiple other screenwriters, this sequel has him penning the script entirely on his own. While the games are beloved for some purposefully convoluted narratives, that same approach doesn’t make for a compelling or even intelligible film. Mr. Cawthon simply isn’t a good screenwriter and while he packs the film with plenty of nods and easter eggs for diehard fans, he can’t construct a cohesive narrative. Even for the horror genre, famous for characters making stupid decisions, the film is rife with eye-rolling moments of pure stupidity. Abby in particular is an infuriating character to watch as she stumbles her way through deadly scenarios like a preteen Mr. Magoo.
Hutcherson and Lali are fine enough, chugging along with a decent amount of effort put into their roles considering the material. Lillard is woefully underutilized here, as is Mckenna Grace (“Gifted,” “Ghostbusters: Afterlife”) as paranormal reality show host Lisa, with the rest of the cast slotting so neatly into their horror film fodder roles that they might as well be wearing big neon signs that say “dead body walking.” Skeet Ulrich (“Scream (1996),” “The Craft”) even briefly appears for a role so minor you can only assume he was stunt cast simply to capitalize on nostalgia for his and Lillard’s previous roles in “Scream (1996).”
Luckily, the thing that most will likely be here for continues to be the best part of the film: the animatronics and practical effects. Given the nature of this series and its basis in real-world purpose-built robots and puppets, the Jim Henson Creature Workshop continues to excel in their craft. The newer batch of “toy” robots are hyper smooth and a lot of fun to watch trapse around the fantastically designed Freddy’s locations, and the older “withered” versions are legitimately terrifying, acting almost as an antithesis to the first film’s detractors who bemoaned it wasn’t actually scary. These mechanized beasts also feature in the film’s best moments such as one segment in the third act that directly recreates the gameplay of the second video game, and virtually any moment within a Freddy’s establishment. Returning director Emma Tammi (“The Wind”) manages to deliver on these highly engaging sequences, even as the dramatic moments falter like before.
Even the voices of these new animatronics are one of the best parts. Megan Fox (“Transformers (2007),” “Jennifer’s Body”) voices Toy Chica, Matthew Patrick voiced Toy Bonnie, and Kellen Goff voices Toy Freddy, and they all manage to do great things with a handful of moments. The Marionette is without a doubt the best part of the film though. In a handful of all too brief moments, the puppetry of the character is terrifying and impressively done, and the way it’s integrated into other character’s performances is a massive highlight.
There are plenty of easter eggs and fan service stuffed throughout this latest adventure at Freddy’s, but those can only do so much. Especially when paired with a subpar script. Emma Tammi does her best with the material, as do the cast, but it all comes down to the script and Scott Cawthon simply isn’t able to craft a compelling or cohesive narrative in the ways a film needs. It’s a practically impressive film that still excites with its robotic counterparts and sets, but even hardcore fans will likely have less fun than they expect with this second outing. It might be entertaining, but it certainly isn't good. 2.5/5