I don't understand the critic reviews at all. It has a LOT of problems, like genuinely if you go scene by scene the number of plot holes and issues is ridiculous. But 11%??? 11%?????? Even if I was a major critic who took movies incredibly seriously, I would never consider giving this under 40%. Objectively, I think it's like a 6/10.
I loved it though, as much or more than the first while also having way more issues. Michael Afton is both the best and worst part of the film. His presence doesn't make any sense when the character had already been adapted into Mike Schmidt and Vanessa, and he literally only has two scenes and only takes one actual action in the entire film. But the implied subtext regarding him and the Afton family dynamic is very interesting and should be further explored, and his performance is hilarious and impossible not to like. He thinks he's the freaking Hamburglar or something. He's so stupid, he's the best.
Charlotte's character is very... interesting. The opening scene, which is IMO the single best in the film, perfectly sets up Charlie to be one to one with her games counterpart. She dies protecting the innocent, and when the Marionette lifts her into its arms they recreate Michalangelo's "pieta" statue of Jesus and Mary. She's set up to be a savior and protector of the innocent, exactly who she is in the games.
But for the entire rest of the film, she's such a different character that I'm convinced the opening is from an earlier version of the script. She's essentially the Vengeful Spirit from the games- frozen in her final living emotion of rage, with no desire beyond causing pain to those who hurt her. Who I guess are "parents". She doesn't even blame William, the guy WHO STABBED HER TO DEATH for her death. Just... "parents".
But throughout the course of the movie she kills/attacks a couple of kids in their early 20s, an elderly couple with no sign of kids in their home, Abby's science teacher who also shows no sign of having kids, and one actual set of parents. This would be so easy to fix. Literally just have Charlie say that inconsiderate grown-ups, not specifically parents, are her target. And maybe make her actually hate Afton???
Then bizarrely, when the Golden Freddy spirit shows up at the end, he's suddenly this chill guy who's been holding Afton not to torture him, but just to prevent him from escaping in his new, more powerful state as Springtrap. This kid was clearly supposed to be the games Vengeful Spirit in the first film, but now they've clearly changed their mind. To be clear: I LIKE the idea of this different version of Charlie as the films Vengeful Spirit. But if they wanted to do this, they should've been planning it from the time of the first film and they shouldn't have alluded to the games version of Charlie at ALL.
The Marionette possession thing looks awful. It was such a cool, creepy idea when they first showed images of it in a darkly lit corner, but it looks so so so bad in motion. It completely took me out of the movie. They needed to show it for like, a couple seconds at the time, barely showing the face and mostly just implying its actions through shadows and just showing its creepy arms. Also, the actual Puppet is AMAZING!!! LIKE ONE OF THE COOLEST THINGS THEY'VE MADE FOR THE FILMS. WHY DIDN'T THEY USE IT MORE.
The cameo character blew my mind. The implications of that existing BEFORE 1982 (the Toy animatronics were still being built) are very very weird and compelling. It's looking like this film will make enough to get at least the trilogy completed, but hopefully they fix a lot of their issues for the next one so that we can go beyond 3 and get at least one more movie exploring the implications of this cameo.
The ending is just... oh my god. Just insane. I love the "Endgame portal scene" to death, idc if it's silly I love it so much. Everything else about the ending is a disaster. Nothing about the last 10 minutes holds up to any scrutiny at all. Plot holes all the way down. How did Jeremiah know that Michael is a "jackass" and that he should knock him to the ground??? He wasn't in the house! He's never met this guy before! How did Michael even know where everybody was and that he needed to go to Mike's house?
Why are we acting like suddenly there are new rules where an animatronic running out of power means that the spirit in it gets to move on??? The spirits are infused into the metal. That's how it works in every other timeline of the series. The metal has to be destroyed with extreme heat for the souls to move on. Unless Golden Freddy kid is being misleading when he responds to Abby's question of "are you going to heaven" with "see you there someday?" (which is possible) this scene makes ZERO sense and is a TERRIBLE ending for the ghost kids and classic animatronics.
Where even WERE the Classics? When they visit the original pizzeria, Mike says "bits and pieces of them are all over..." but when we see them later, they're in perfect condition. I almost think this is another remnant of an earlier script, where the original animatronics actually become the Withereds through damage. It would explain why the Withereds are so underutilized and why their explanation is so lackluster: they're prototypes used for spare parts that are also a security system that activates when the toy animatronics are threatened, which... it's just really clunky and odd.
I genuinely thought there was an entire third act that we were entering when the credits rolled. I like what they did with Mike and Vanessa's characters- I simultaenously understood where he was coming from asking her not to talk to him anymore and also felt horrible for her. And honestly, Michael. I mean, he was almost in tears asking his sister to come home. I still really like all the human characters, its just that they didn't do nearly enough with them and hardly explored them.
Henry was amazing. He only got one actual on-screen scene, but Skeet was incredible as him. I can tell he poured over Henry's voicelines from FNAF 6, his inflections are identical. He reads all his lines like it's Shakespeare or something. He's going to KILL the famous FNAF 6 speech, which I consider to be probably the most iconic and best moment of the entire series.
Anyways. Very messy movie with a lot of problems that I cannot believe were not fixed. But it sets the stage for a third film that could easily be the best of the trilogy, if they take feedback as seriously as they seem to. Scott Cawthon literally turned his internet off between the critic embargo release and when he got to see the first film in theaters out of the fear of what people could be saying.
The only reason the series is still going is because he listens to fans and critics. The creation of the series was spurred on by a critic making fun of a previous project, saying Scott's characters resembled creepy animatronics. The series was supposed to end at 3, but the jumpscares in that game were called out as lackluster, giving him the desire to prove everyone wrong with 4 being more horror-focused and also planned to be the last game. Then nobody understood the story of 4, so Sister Location was created to resolve issues with the plot of 4. And from there, the series continued.
The point is, Scott doesn't want to make slop. He genuinely cares about the fans and the reception of his work. I have a feeling that he's going to lock in like crazy for FNAF 3 and do everything in his power to make it exceptional. Whether Scott and Emma Tammi's idea of locking in alligns with critics and fans remains to be seen, but I'm optimistic.