Blumhouse’s Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 has arrived in theaters for the holiday season. In FNAF 2, series creator Scott Cawthon and film director Emma Tammi explored the next chapter of the Schmidt siblings and Vanessa Afton. The cast and crew have teased a few surprises, while Cawthon may have slipped some new lore reveal from the games. After two years of production, has the FNAF 2 movie surpassed the original?
The Plot Centers around Charlotte Emily and the Aftons
Blumhouse’s FNAF 2 combines elements from the games and the novel, FNAF: The Silver Eyes. Instead of focusing on five children haunting the chain pizzeria, the story unfolds the aggressive spirit of Charlotte Emily. She plays a core role in the William Afton murders and is Henry Emily’s daughter in the game franchise.
In the film, Charlotte and Vanessa were childhood friends. She tragically died at the original Freddy’s Pizzeria after rescuing a child from William’s clutches. Her movie death references FNAF 2 (Game), FNAF: Pizzeria Simulator, and FNAF: Ultimate Custom Night. Charlotte is considered his first victim and holds a vengeful grudge against him. Her spirits possessed the Marionette animatronic to protect children from harmful adults.
Her film counterpart explained why William shows spite against Vanessa in the first film. She failed to prevent Charlotte from entering the maintenance area, forcing him to stab her three times. While Vanessa grew guilty, Charlotte held her frustration for her and the adults who refused to listen.
Speaking of Vanessa, she struggles to fight the urges to become like William. Unfortunately, living a normal life is challenging. Viewers could tell her father’s legacy has traumatized her deeply. She associates certain sounds with his animatronic workshop. She is still secretive about her personal life around Mike and Abby, fearing her past could harm them.
Finally, there’s Michael Afton. In the FNAF game lore, he’s often associated with the alias Mike Schmidt. He’s depicted with a purple security guard uniform, representing the Purple Guy Afton motif. He plays a more sinister role than an investigator searching for answers. Now taking the mantle of William, he brings Charlotte outside of Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria.
The Jim Henson FNAF Animatronics are Stunning
The best part about Blumhouse’s FNAF 2 recreation is the animatronics. The original Five Nights at Freddy’s film had the animatronics made in-studio, beautifully replicating the Showbiz Pizza robotics. The Jim Henson Company joined the sequel’s production to build the Withered and Toy animatronics.
The Toy Fazbear crew perfectly replicates their coming-of-age technology with facial recognition and wireless functionality. Unlike their pizzeria chain counterparts, their endo skeletons and plastic pieces are waterproof. Balloon Boy took advantage of his features to commit a Jaws execution.
The Withered prototypes are built with the same endoskeleton, but are more worn with their felted fur and missing body parts. Their presence is more terrifying compared to their game counterpart. Cawthon supervised the script to ensure these animatronics’ game mechanics were used in the film. Only Withered Foxy can recognize a person underneath a Fazber mask.
The most impressive FNAF 2 animatronic has to be the Mangle. Both film and game lore state that Toy Foxy’s fate is an assembly attraction. Cawthon has modeled and animated the robot to behave like a dog. The Jim Henson Company miraculously brought the amalgamation to life and let it stalk prey like a werewolf.
If I had to pick a favorite between these two groups, the Withered animatronics stole my heart. Their disturbing movements and sounds made you wish you’d stay home. Watching Withered Freddy walking like a zombie made me smile. It shows that Blumhouse took their deteriorating bodies into account with their functionality.
Freddy Fazbear’s Original Pizzeria Screams ’80s Nostalgia
The 1982 Freddy Fazbear’s location screams the ambitions of Chuck E. Cheese’s and Showbiz Pizza’s arcade restaurant. Instead of a business to attract customers to play Atari games, it’s a trap for child abduction. Blumhouse did an excellent job in reimagining FNAF 2’s room layout with colored plaster and kid-friendly attractions. The newest add-on is the Kids Cove river for the whimsical fantasy carnival.
Even in its abandoned state, there’s beauty through the nightly hues that transform it into a daunting nightmare. The biggest change is the location of the Marionette’s box. In FNAF 2, the puppet emerges from the box at the Prize Corner. The production relocated the box underneath the show stage, acting as a host to introduce the Toy animatronics. The change was necessary to help portray Charlotte’s story.
FNAF 2 Kills Fell Flat
Both Five Nights at Freddy’s and FNAF 2 have established that their movies are mystery thrillers rather than horror. When it comes to on-screen deaths, the sequel didn’t make them memorable enough. What made the first installment stick in the audience’s mind was the production’s creative liberties with the animatronics’ behavior.
A great example is Chica, who is known to raid the kitchen for pizza. The security camera in that room never shows what happens inside. The film has her leave her iconic Cupcake in the fridge as a distraction. She bangs on pans and pots to misdirect her prey, then allows the Cupcake to bite. Bonnie does something similar by waiting for his victim to enter the supply closet.
The Toy animatronics are charming to look at, and I applaud them for using their adaptive AI and modern appearance to blend in during Fazfest. However, their kills are considered more of a jump scare. This is because the footage cutaways tone down the scare factor. Toy Chica’s confrontation with Mr. Berg is something I wish the audience had seen end with a proper on-screen death. On the bright side, his prodding towards Abby gave him his deserved comeuppance.
I can forgive Tammi’s direction since it’s Charlotte avoiding suspicion. Balloon Boy is the only exception since he stayed behind in the original pizzeria. Rarely does anyone visit the abandoned location, making it the perfect place to commit a murder spree. Sadly, the Mangle gets an off-screen kill as it lunges and retracts into the air duct.
The FNAF 2 Movie Cast is Enjoyable
The acting felt more natural in FNAF 2 than in Five Nights at Freddy’s. Josh Hutchinson and Piper Rubio improved Mike and Abby’s sibling chemistry since working together in the previous film. It translates the script well as they bond over the Fazbear animatronics and progress into the next chapter of their lives. Their interaction in the destroyed chain pizzeria gave a comforting moment.
Elizabeth Lail did a good portrayal of Vanessa’s survivor’s guilt and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). I was shocked to find myself enjoying her more in the sequel. Her reactions and facial expressions capture the essence of burdening fear. She even reacted negatively to Mike when he said he was trying to fix her after the incident. Her and Hutchinson’s interactions hint that their relationship wasn’t meant to be.
Mckenna Graves, Megan Fox, and Audrey Lynn-Marie earned the spotlight as Charlotte Emily. Graves played as her possessed victim, Lisa, exposing Charlotte’s malicious intent to avenge against uncaring adults and Vanessa. Fox voices her misguidance as Toy Chica to manipulate Abby’s trust. And Lynn-Marie does an exceptional job in her first movie theater production. Her introduction performance is heartbreaking to watch as the young pigtailed girl meets her demise through courage and betrayal.
Matthew Lillard returns as William Afton for Vanessa’s lucid dream. He gave a wonderful antagonistic performance that sends chills down your spine. Co-star Freddy Carter as Michael Afton had an underwhelming welcome. Throughout his acting career, he’s known to play mostly shifty characters. Michael’s mannerisms in FNAF 2 felt forced and monotone.
Matthew Patrick (aka MatPat) and Cory Williams (aka CoryxKenshin) returned as cameos in this production. Patrick first played as the diner waiter named Ness, a reference to his favorite game, Earthbound. He surprised New York Comic-Con visitors by announcing he’s playing Toy Bonnie in October. It was nice seeing him again as the FNAF community thrived on his game theories for over a decade. Williams reprised his role as Abby’s favorite taxi driver and got a chuckle out of me.
Jojo Bizarre Adventures’ Kellan Goff was a treat to hear. He worked alongside Cawthon since debuting as Funtime Freddy in FNAF: Sister Location. I immediately recognized his Glamrock Freddy voice when he spoke as Toy Freddy. It threw me for a loop, as I’m used to his FNAF: Ultimate Custom Night goofy vocals by Darren Roebuck. The vocal direction wanted him to sound more menacing.
Blumhouse’s FNAF 2 Verdict
While FNAF 2 did a nice job as a sequel, most of me wanted to return to Five Nights at Freddy’s. The story is an improvement in set design, animatronic production, and acting. Yet it somewhat resides in the first installment’s shadow. The key difference lies in the film’s direction. Five Nights at Freddy’s felt more driven as an homage to the game’s fanbase. FNAF 2 is for the crime drama and thriller audiences.
The script mostly focuses on uncovering Vanessa’s past and the trauma William Afton has caused her. Five Nights at Freddy’s had a similar concept, but uses the security guard and Freddy Fazbear’s chain as core narrative devices. FNAF 2 does have a nice amount of fan service, such as the Freddy plush singing the Toreador March.
The sequel also reveals the answer to a decade-long mystery of the lockbox from FNAF 4. Many game theorists believed Vanessa took the toys out of it for lucid dreaming preparation. Inside were a red toy airplane, a burnt paddle, a journal, and a bag of marbles. For now, FNAF theorists will be kept busy deciphering what they could be related to while waiting for the third film.
