Y2K

This could have been good. The concept is there, you have a cast that was willing to put themselves in goofy situations and obviously the budget to create something memorable. What went wrong? The limp direction and the forced screenplay.

Firstly, the acting is awful. Not because of the cast, but because the screenplay is written with so many hamfisted jokes thrown in that it gave the actors little room breathe, not to mention these are not traditionally comic actors. Felt bad for the leads, because I know they are capable of much more than this.

Secondly, the script needs more work. Nobody talked like this in the 90s. You got the references and the slang, but none of the delivery. Not a single bit of dialog felt natural to the scene. The comedy only works maybe a quarter of the time because the jokes are so sudden and forced.

Thirdly, where is the shock value? For a movie like this to work, there needed to be more shock. A bit more graphic violence, maybe a bit more nudity. Something to make me say "Whoa!". It felt tame for the subject matter and general feel of the film. Should've taken the murderous robot scheme further.

Overall, it was trash. Unbelievable, not funny and childish. I would only recommend watching it if it's free on streaming and you have absolutely nothing else to watch on a rainy afternoon.

1 brain implant out of 5.

It's hard to tell exactly where this movie goes wrong. Maybe it's that the beginning doesn't get you firmly enough on the leads side. Could have used better humor to do that, or maybe some more relatable and less cliched characterization.

Whatever it is, when this movie started leaning into its emotional moments, and you can tell it's trying because of the music and style, it ended up alienating me because I didn't feel what it was trying to make me feel. And that continued right up thru the end of the movie.

I'd say about half the humor landed for me, but that's not always the filmmakers fault.

Most of the characters felt very stereotypical, and felt like they were trying to be brought to life for us, by just a couple extra zany details, instead anything that felt authentic.

What it felt like, Kyle Mooney and Evan Winter forgive me if this wrong, is that money got behind this movie too early, or too quickly, and the script didn't make it past a first draft. Maybe, too, all the comedy was written in, and not improvised in the way that great comedy movies rely on for the real snappy humor that pops. And, I think in Editting they were giving the humor too much of a pause; too much space for what should have been audience laughter, in a way that also alienated me and probably others. And most of the humor was pretty toothless as well, especially when you compare it to the movies it's drawing influence from.

So unfortunately this movie just feels mediocre; lazily trying to be heartfelt; I wish I had felt toward it what the filmmakers clearly thought I'd feel.

This is one I was looking forward to for a while and I had reasonable expectations for it. However what it ultimately became was kind of forgettable.

Pros.

The humor can really be on point here and there and there is a really good chemistry between the two leads. The best friend dynamic was really on point, with some Super Bad vibes. The aesthetic was also on point, as someone who was in high school during this period, they nailed it. There was some good side characters that really helped pull the weight of the film. Also some death scenes were funny.

Cons.

The story seemed so good at the beginning, it really set up the characters and world nicely but if you were expecting the fun times that the trailer teased, you will be disappointed. After the initial shock of Y2K begins, it really comes undone. There is a main character that dies and it just didn't feel warranted, at least not yet. Then another death of a main side character happens almost immediately afterwards for comic effect and its really funny but doesn't work overall because of the previous death needed more time to sink in, or not happen at all. So two of the funniest characters are dead in like 30 mins... Not a good sign of things to come.

Then the characters just roam around with some side characters that were not the focus before but move into the spot light and it distracts from the main characters plight. Speaking of, he is just so bland and uninteresting that I couldn't care about him or his Crush(Laura) who also was bland, and they try so hard to make us like her but I couldn't.

Combine this with a wasted cameo towards the end and a blah ending and this movie absolutely falls apart and wishing it made good with what the movie the trailer promised. Also the acting is very hit or miss.

Overall, it's pretty forgettable but maybe it can be revisited for nostalgia, much like the movie. So meta.

5/10.

Y2K tries to take the formula of popular teen comedies like 'Superbad' and wrap it around tech horror but it ultimately fails to give us anything but a mess. It relies hard on your knowledge and memories of Y2K, 1999/2000 trends in music, and low-budget horror films to carry the humor but its story falls apart halfway through. The 3rd act is a mess only saved by one of the most ridiculous cameos with jokes at their own expense.

In the end, Y2K can be funny with some laugh-out-loud moments, but most of those moments are at how ridiculous what just happened was. If you were a teen to 20 something in 1999/2000 you can find something to enjoy with the film but ultimately doesn't give enough to warrant another visit.

Brad: 5 Josh: 4.5-5 Final: 5.

The defining feature of Y2K is it's rather startling accuracy. They included all of the details, even some you might have forgotten. I think this has a low score because it's TOO realistic. This is a lot like being young in the 90s and early 2000s with a dorky intensity that may not appeal to the Zoomers or Alphas who are a similar age in 2025 and want some ultra-sick year 2000 aesthetics that only existed in media. I can just see their bored and confused looks of disapproval from a distance.

It's a fun watch. This is a comedy way more than a horror movie and it won't be a meaningful experience for anyone over 50 or under 35.