Five nights at Freddy's 2

I'm definitely not the biggest Five Nights at Freddy's fan alive. I watched the first movie, didn't like it, but I could at least understand why some people enjoyed it.

With the second one? Man... I genuinely have no idea how anyone walks out of this thinking, "Yeah, that was good."

This thing is basically a fan-service piñata that someone slapped together with the energy of a dying WiFi router. Sure, the animatronics look great (honestly the only part of the production where it feels like effort was involved). Marionette in particular could've been genuinely creepy... if they didn't spend most of the movie turning her into a goofy possession gimmick with cartoon eyes and wet-noodle arms. Completely wasted potential at this point...

Yes, the movie is bigger than the first one. More robots, more locations, more noise. Great.

But it doesn't matter when the whole script collapses like a folding table at a frat party.

Now the rest... and this is where the mountain of issues starts:

The writing is awful.

Characters talk like they were written on a crumpled napkin. The plot relies entirely on braindead coincidences...

Example: A car breaks down in the middle of nowhere, in the dead of night... and suddenly a friend just happens to drive by, doesn't question anything, and gives a ride. Sure. Totally normal.

People appear out of nowhere like they mastered instant transmission, and a supposedly abandoned, forgotten-for-decades location apparently sits right next door to everyone. Nobody in this world seems to need more than 90 seconds to travel miles.

And the story: Just as bad.

The villain's motivation could have been good, but it's executed so bizarrely that you can't take it seriously. No adult on earth would react that dismissively to a kid shouting about a kidnapping. In this movie, the parents treat her like she said aliens stole her homework. It's absurd and breaks the whole setup.

Then there's the big, hyped-up Fazbear Festival. Posters everywhere, constant mentions, obvious build-up toward some big showdown... And then it amounts to absolutely nothing. It never matters. At all.

The final battle happens in a single cramped room like they ran out of money halfway through shooting. Why even include the festival if it's not going to matter? Feels like a huge missed opportunity, maybe a budget problem, who knows.

The horror is basically just loud noises and jump-cuts with zero buildup. No tension, no atmosphere, nothing memorable. It's kiddie horror - which would be fine if the rest of the movie could carry the weight... It doesn't.

The dynamic between Mike and Vanessa is also baffling. Vanessa carries the whole movie, protects his sister, does all the heavy lifting, and Mike reacts like she personally keyed his car. Zero emotional logic.

And the biggest problem of all: This isn't a movie. It's a two-hour setup for the third one.

Nothing gets resolved.

There's no real climax.

No sense of completion.

It's like reading a book where the author ends chapter eight with "To be continued..." and just walks away.

FNaF fans will probably love this movie anyway, because it shows them the stuff they already adore from the games. And hey, that's fine, the fanservice is overflowing.

But as a standalone film? It's weak. Really weak.

It feels like a two-hour trailer for Part 3 with some cool animatronics sprinkled in.

If you're expecting an ACTUAL film with pacing, logic, or coherent writing...

Yeah, this ain't it. Not even close.

🏆89%

From a critical standpoint, I understand why non-FNAF fans would dislike this film, but as someone who is a major FNAF fan, this was an absolutely incredible experience. Especially when in a theater full of fans like yourself. I absolutely loved this film, and it was everything I was hoping for the first film to be. First off, yes, this movie is a significant upgrade from the first. Well, at least for a FNAF fan. I actually do see why some critics would give this a lower rating than the first. Technically, nothing too important really happens in this film. There is more lore added, but it wasn't anything too necessary. By the end of the film, it kinda just feels like the main purpose of the film was to set up the third film where the important stuff should truly begin. So yeah, I definitely do see where that low score is coming from. After watching this, I instantly realized that the only way you could possibly feel like you aren't wasting your time watching this is if you're a FNAF fan. There are so many Easter eggs and references here. It's an absolutely incredible movie for a fan, but if you aren't a fan, you'll likely be bored during all those scenes, and there are a lot of those scenes. If you're not a FNAF fan and you disliked the first film, then I don't recommend watching this one. But if enjoyed the first film and if you're a FNAF fan, then you're in for an absolute treat! One more thing, stay for the end credit scenes. The first end credit scene might just be the best scene of the movie!

Five Nights at Freddy's 2 is the kind of sequel that arrives with exciting potential... and stumbles precisely where it needed to get it right. The lore grows, the animatronics shine, and fan service explodes on screen, but all of this is tied to a narrative that always seems one step behind itself. It explains too much to those who already know everything and at the same time doesn't help those who are just arriving.

The horror tries to make itself present, and sometimes even appears, but it is soon sabotaged by random jump scares that are more annoying than scary. The feeling is that the franchise is so concerned with pleasing the most hardcore fans that it forgot to tell a story that works on its own.

Still, it's impossible to deny: when the animatronics come on the scene, the film finally comes to life. Visually, it's the best this adaptation has ever delivered. Too bad the rest doesn't follow suit.

In the end, FNAF 2 is the typical movie that makes you think, "I wanted to like it... but it's hard."

Rating: 6/10 (For General Audiences) / 10/10 (For the Fandom) The Premise Set one year after the events of the first film, Five Nights at Freddy's 2 attempts to expand the lore rather than just retread it. The story picks up with Mike (Josh Hutcherson) and Abby (Piper Rubio) trying to navigate a world where the horrors of Freddy Fazbear's Pizza are becoming a local legend-spawning a kitschy "Fazfest" celebration. But when a new location opens featuring the shiny, plastic "Toy" animatronics, old ghosts (quite literally) come back to haunt the main cast.

The Good: Jim Henson's Creature Shop Does It Again If you thought the animatronics in the first movie were impressive, the sequel doubles down. The introduction of the Toy Animatronics (Toy Freddy, Bonnie, and Chica) provides a stark, unsettling contrast to the "Withered" originals. The pristine, shiny plastic look of the new bots translates perfectly to the screen, capturing that uncanny valley feeling from the second game.

The standout performance, however, isn't human. The Marionette (The Puppet) is the true star of this film. Without spoiling its role, the character's movement and design are genuinely unnerving and provide the film's most atmospheric scares.

I expected this film to be very different. I was expecting a sequel, but instead I found myself faced with a film that says little and concludes nothing. It's not a bad film, but let's just say they managed the timing poorly, leaving you with an indescribable sadness at the end. The soundtrack is almost the same as the first but still very beautiful, the animatronics are fantastic, and the characters don't act haphazardly. All in all, it's not a bad film, but it could have been much better.