We are smack-dab in the middle of the video game adaptation era, which has its moments: A thrilling series like Prime Video’s Fallout or a silly, action-packed movie series like Sonic the Hedgehog not only celebrates the source material, but also presents it in an accessible way that invites new fans into big franchises. But there are still wearying misfires like The Last of Us season 2 and the Uncharted movie to drag us back down to earth. 2023’s movie adaptation Five Nights at Freddy’s came from folks who understood the assignment, and made one of the more entertaining game-to-screen adaptations of the last few years. The sequel doesn’t hit the same marks.
Loosely based on the 2014 video game Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, the second film picks up not long after the original FNAF movie. Security guard Mike (Josh Hutcherson), his little sister and legal ward Abby (Piper Rubio), and police officer Vanessa (Elizabeth Lail) are still dealing with the first film’s aftermath, which had them battling animatronics created by Vanessa’s serial killer dad, William Afton (Matthew Lillard), and possessed by his child victims. Now, Abby (Piper Rubio) is mourning the loss of her robotic “friends,” and hoping to bring them back online.
Early in the movie, we’re introduced to the original franchise location for Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, the restaurant haunted by its own animatronics. There, we meet a robot that’s new to the movie franchise: The Marionette, otherwise known as the Puppet. The Marionette was first introduced in the FNAF 2 video game as a horrifying animatronic that comes from the original Fazbear’s, and is possessed by another of Afton’s victims, a young girl named Charlotte. FNAF creator Scott Cawthorn expands on The Marionette’s story for the movie, especially her goals: She wants to be free of the Freddy Fazbear location. She sees Abby as the key to her escape, since Abby already trusts Freddy and the gang, and is anxious to see them again.
I really loved the first Five Nights at Freddy’s film, even though I haven’t played any of the games. Even though I went in with almost no knowledge of the franchise, the story unfolded in a way that let me easily digest the lore being revealed. And as someone who grew up in the ’80s going to pizzerias that looked a lot like like Freddy Fazbear’s, it was an easy setting to find my footing in.
That ease is lost in the second film, as the story scope gets bigger, with more robots, mysticism, and murder. It also gets more confusing, though, as the addition of The Marionette brings in plenty of lore that I simply didn’t understand, due to not being familiar with the games. Credit where it’s due, though — The Marionette’s character design is unique and horrifying, and it stands out from the rest of the Fazbear gang.
This comes down to the writing, ultimately. The first film was developed and scripted by game creator Scott Cawthorn and a group of other writers, including director Emma Tammi. With the sequel, Cawthorn has taken on the writing duties alone, with Tammi back in the director’s chair. The resulting movie feels far more lore-heavy than the first, with Cawthorn apparently assuming the audience won’t need explanations: Some crucial information isn’t covered for newbies until very late in the movie.
Luckily, my screening was filled with FNAF fans, and their reactions gave me a better understanding of which developments were important. They let me know what to pay attention to, whether by gasping in horror at an event, or overtaking the room with nervous giggles when a character stepped into a specific location. That’s not how I want to enjoy a movie, though. If Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 was meant for a mass audience, it should make some concessions for that audience. Instead, FNAF 2 left me feeling excluded from the party other people were having.
One particular element of The Marionette’s story is introduced early in the film. While she’s caged inside Freddy Fazbear’s, a mysterious music box plays next to her cage. If you know FNAF lore, you understand how the music box connects to both The Marionette and Charlotte — information I wish I’d gotten before the final act of the movie, since it makes for a richer story. It’s as if HBO had waited until the end of The Last of Us season 1 to reveal that Ellie was immune to clicker bites, leaving viewers who don’t know the games wondering for weeks on end when she would finally change into one of the infected.
The sequel is also a disappointment in the horror department. Like the first, it’s rated PG-13, so no one was expecting a gore-fest. That said, the kills were more effective in the first film, as was the tension throughout, over the secret truth about Freddy Fazbear. Tammi showed in the first film that she can pull off effective, entertaining PG-13 horror sequences, but somehow, that just didn’t happen in this movie.
The returning Piper Rubio is one of the movie’s bright spots. She was good as Mike’s kid sister in the first movie. Here, though, Rubio brings 11-year-old Abby to life with a convincing level of sorrow and anguish, as she mourns her friends and desperately hopes to get them back. She is a determined little girl who constantly walks right through trouble’s door with no fear, all in an effort to save her robotic pals.
And yet her role is also bogged down with one of the worst elements I’ve seen in a movie this year. Wayne Knight (Seinfeld, Jurassic Park) plays a science teacher who is unnecessarily nasty to Abby, telling her to drop out of a robotics competition, as he doesn’t think her robot is worth displaying. Later, when she appears with a finished product at the science fair, the teacher intentionally breaks it, sending Abby from the room in tears.
While I’m sure his character is meant to be comical, it’s not. It’s mean-spirited, and anyone who saw a teacher acting like this would surely speak out. And the fact that he’s doing it openly, in front of the school and at a science fair attended by students and parents, took me out of the movie completely.
On the other hand, Skeet Ulrich provides a great moment as Henry, the father of one of Afton’s first victims. Henry is a pretty important character in the games, and he’s being set up for a much meatier role in a potential third movie. And while he’s in little more than a single scene, Ulrich uses his minutes to create a damaged, traumatized father who still hasn’t forgiven himself for not being there to save his daughter. It’s one of the best scenes in the film, and it leads to Hutcherson’s best work in FNAF 2, as he (and viewers) learn crucial information.
While Rubio is a standout, Hutcherson and Lail feel a bit lost in the mix. Mike mostly wants to just move past the whole Freddy Fazbear’s thing, whether he’s actually dealt with the trauma or not. Hutcherson mostly seems bored throughout FNAF 2, which keeps the other emotional moments he’s involved in from making a mark.
Vanessa, on the other hand, has seemingly experienced no growth at all. She’s still haunted by visions of her father, and still trying to avoid dealing with them. You’d think battling your serial killer stepdad and his army of mystic animatronics would change a girl, but no. And while Lail isn’t exactly bad in the movie, her constant breathless tone, which worked to perfection in season 1 of Netflix’s You, is not a match for this movie. It keeps her from believably conveying the ridiculous supernatural events that keep happening around her. While that performance didn’t bother me as much in the first film, we didn’t know who Vanessa was then, or what she was capable of. Now, her gaspy vocal work is off-putting.
Between the confusing plot elements, the middling horror, and the dodgy acting, Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 is a step backward from the first movie. It’s a disappointment: While there are moments in the movie that fans may enjoy, and plenty of robots causing chaos, the story is a mess if you don’t already know the ins and outs of the series. The first Five Nights at Freddy’s movie felt like it was inviting all of us into its world. This one, on the other hand, could leave everyone but the franchise’s biggest diehards feeling like outsiders, simply trying to keep up.
Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 opens in theaters on Friday, Dec. 5.
