FNAF 2 Movie Review (SPOILERS)

I unironically thought the first movie was the worst film I had ever seen in my entire life. It suffered from 3 main problems;

1. Campy

Pillow fort, the little girl strumming Bonnie's guitar and exploding, cupcake getting most of the kills, Afton "the symmetry my friend"/"look at how SMALL you are", Vanessa threatening to kill Mike, they're saved at the end by the power of.. drawing pictures - all turned this into a weird campfest that made me cringe.

2. Not enough like the games

Red eyes, no Toreador March, no phone guy, Freddy's isn't open, and this movie lacked the scary atmosphere the games have. No avoiding animatronics, minimal jumpscares, overly friendly robots, etc. It wasn't a horror movie.

3. It was entirely inconsistent

Everything contradicted or didn't go anywhere. Mike has the same dream every night somehow, he instantly knows how to escape the stuffing contraption, Afton recognizes Mike's name even though he killed his brother states away decades prior (Mike Schmidt is a common name), Vanessa's characterization was inconsistent, Afton shows up at the end for.. no reason? Golden Freddy kid seems to know who killed the kids but the others don't? Mike works at an abandoned place? Stupid. And it didn't know whether to be a toddler gigglefest or an actual horror movie so they tried both in ways that didn't mesh well.

That film had 8 years behind it, Scott Cawthon was given FULL creative control, and he spent so long writing and rewriting to get the movie perfect. It should not have been as bad as it was. People excused my criticisms with "it's for the fans!!" As if I haven't been a fan since 2014. The best compliment I could give the first movie (other than the costume/set design) is that it's probably good for new-age Security Breach fans.

So then I walk into the 2nd movie. My expectations were at the floor, as if I were going to see The Room or Dragonball Evolution. I saw the audience score was the same as the first movie but the critics score was HALF of what the first movie was given. I watched a little bit of Penguinz0's review where he said it's a huge step down. So my expectations were low... but holy shit....

This movie was **WAYYYYY BETTER!!!**

The opening scene is incredible and sets up everything that is to come later. The Puppet is an amazing character with so many unique powers and abilities. You see her backstory and why she does what she does. It works out so well. It's not like the first movie where it's a pile of inconsistent junk you have to work through. Things tie in here for the most part.

There still are plenty of problems. Mike and Vanessa's relationship was awful. Characters will seem to get anywhere way too quick for convenience of the plot. The Withered animatronics get minimal introduction. And I wish they showed a scene of Michael Afton reprogramming the Toy animatronics instead of them just randomly coming back to life. 

However, overall, this movie fixes those three main major problems I had.

1. Still a LITTLE campy.. but it's not bad

Whereas the first one let its cringey corny shenanigans waste time, this one doesn't do that. The campiest part was at the end when the main animatronics killed the Toys. And, like I said, Mike and Vanessa's relationship was bad. But those don't ruin anything for me. Michael Afton shows up here and unlike William in the first movie, HE ACTUALLY FEELS LIKE A SERIAL KILLER! Some campiness is derived from there being a lot of action-scenes but campy *action* is much more fitting for what's supposed to be a scary movie than building a pillow fort is.

2. This took a LOT from the games

The first movie felt like whoever made it played through Security Breach and saw one screenshot of the first game. THIS one actually uses SO many elements of the series! Henry, Michael Afton, actual important characters show up and add so much. Things like the Take Cake minigame get recontextualized and the way Charlotte was killed - it's completely faithful to her being a 'protector'. Mike actually has to deal with the suspense of avoiding animatronics in the office. THIS ONE WAS AN ACTUAL HORROR MOVIE WITH JUMPSCARES unlike the first. They do cool ghostly possession stuff with the Puppet.

3. Followed more well-told stories

Vanessa's trauma, the Puppet's murder, her vengeance against parents, Abby's relationship with the animatronics/being manipulated by the Puppet, Michael Afton's entry as a character - were all phenomenal plot threads that actually went places. And it set up things to happen way later with Henry and Michael. Things tie into themselves instead of random spaghetti at the wall.

This one actually borrowed enough from the games where I can pass off some criticisms as "you gotta be a fan to get it". It was stupid that Mike just instantly knows to use a mask against the animtronics But it's at least from the games. Withereds are barely elaborated on. I can say "from the games".

The big standout for me...

Michael Afton. He wasn't there for much but when he was on screen, he stole the show. He didn't make me cringe with "the symmetry my friend!!" his lines were actually well-delivered. He gave off that psychopath aura of being awkward and cold yet also unpredictable and strange and scared but also scary. Whoever played him needs a raise. 

That was the big standout. He was written a billion times better than his father in the first. Even William Afton, through trauma and flashbacks HERE in the SECOND movie, was far superior to how he was depicted in the first.

Overall I still wouldn't give it a super high score. The first movie gets like a 1 out of 10 for me (that 1 is just for having decent set/costume designs). The second movie, gets a 5 or 6 out of 10. I don't know how Penguinz0 can say this is significantly worse and I have no clue why the critics panned this harder. This was pretty good. While it's not great, I can at least say it's "for the fans". THIS feels like an actual FNAF movie to me.

In the first movie I thought Abby was the worst character since she was the reason for a lot of campiness. I even joked that "if she doesn't die in FNAF 2, I'll give it zero stars". Tough here, in movie 2, she actually drives the plot forward so much. And I'm glad. She was much more likeable.

Sidenote: There were a lot of people complaining about reviewbombs with FNAF fans giving everything with Freddy's face an unapologetic maximum rating. I do still think the FNAF franchise gets reviewbombed way too much (the Fourth Closet having 4.8/5 stars on Amazon is beyond outrageous) and people should cool it on that. But this movie kinda deserves it. This one was so hype.