Five Nights At Freddy’s 2, the second live-action installment in the Five Nights at Freddy’s film franchise, based on the popular video game series from developer Scott Cawthon, follows Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria and the haunted, violent animatronic mascots that dwell within.
Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 takes everything from the first one and supersizes it. Credit: Blumhouse
The story picks up a year after part one and follows Abby Schmidt as she is manipulated by the Marionette, an animatronic seeking revenge, while Mike Schmidt and Vanessa Shelly attempt to protect her from the new “Toy” animatronics.
Freddy’s 2 received heavily mixed reviews after its theaterical release in early December. Critics argued that the film prioritized “key jangling” for die-hard fans rather than telling a compelling story for a general audience. Despite those lackluster reviews, it still managed to pass $200 million globally with a strong domestic opening of around $64 million against a modest budget, proving highly profitable for Universal and Blumhouse.
While there are some good things that spring from that—the animatronics and puppetry in this film are amazing, and the film is full of Easter eggs. Credit: Blumhouse
The creative team behind the Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 movie, including game creator Cawthon and director Emma Tammi, made a conscious decision to prioritize fan service early on in production, even if it alienated general audiences. They based their move on fan feedback from the first movie, which helped shape the sequel, specifically leading to more game-accurate moments and gameplay mechanics, such as using the Freddy mask to hide from animatronics.
While speaking to MovieWeb this past week, Tammi was asked whether the decision to focus on making a movie for the fans might have been the right move.
“It really was a choice from the get-go to try to put fan service first and foremost as we were making these films. And it’s tough because that fan service doesn’t always translate to a more general audience. We knew that going in. I think we wanted to be more specific than general, and we felt like it was a gamble, but also if we weren’t making this movie for the fan base, then we’ve really lost our core. So, it’s really a decision we all stand behind,” she said.
Some characters are sidelined to the detriment of the film. Still, FNAF 2 is just as enjoyable as the first, and quite a bit more frightening. Credit: Blumhouse
Tammi felt proud that the film, which was released, was truly made for the enjoyment of longtime fans.
“I almost take it as a badge of honor that the critic reviews and the audience reviews have like the biggest disparity, I think, in Rotten Tomatoes history or something close to that. I understand a lot of the critique, of course, and I understand and have experienced firsthand the joy and the excitement of the fans watching the movie. So, I hold both things like as very much true and understandable reactions to the film. But at the end of the day, the joy of the fans is so much more important and thrilling than reading a kind of mean movie review headline. So, I think we made the right choice. I feel really proud of what we did.”
Five Nights at Freddy’s is a faithful adaptation of the point-and-click video game franchise of the same name that has wowed Zoomers for years. Credit: Blumhouse
The first Freddy’s movie was so successful that it added another layer of pressure when going into the sequel, the director told GamesRadar+ early this year.
“But I think mostly just wanting to make sure that we were really expanding on the story in the way that the fan base was hoping for and going to be excited about. And also, as much as we wanted to retain something that felt familiar, we wanted to also include a lot of surprises, so I think we’ve done that.”
Financially, for a horror sequel driven by massive fan loyalty and delivering more direct fan service, it appears that Cawthon and Tammi made the right choice by listening to their faithful FNAF fans. There haven’t been many horror sequels that have done this well at the box office.
One final note: My son and I recently went to see the film on opening day, and even though, as my son said, the movie lore isn’t exactly in line with the games, it is clear that it was made for the fans. We had so much fun watching this film and talked about it endlessly all the way home in the car and then some. “Oh, this has a ton of Easter eggs, Dad,” my son enthusiastically said. It was just an incredible bonding experience for us, one I’ll never forget.
This is a film that fans of Freddy’s will enjoy for decades to come. Definitely go and see it in the theaters with the family if you haven’t already.
Five Nights at Freddy’s Movie 2 movie poster. Credit: Blumhouse
You can rent or buy Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 on digital platforms; Universal Pictures Home Entertainment will also drop a physical release on 4K UHD, Blu-ray, and DVD February 17. Check out the trailer below.
Next Level Media Plus | Outerworld and StarWarsGalaxyNews 
Leave a comment