So, I bit the bullet and saw FNAF 2. I liked the first film, so thought there was a good chance I would enjoy this as well. BOY WAS I WRONG!
There is very little plot or story this time. Charlotte/The Mannequin is trapped inside the original Freddy Fazbear’s location, and tricks Abby into helping her escape. Her end goal? Kill all the adults/parents in the town (I wasn’t expecting FNAF 2 to turn into an anti-parent tirade, yet here we are).
The production design continues to impress, and there has to be some credit given for these films choosing to more-or-less follow the lore from the games. It’s cool that the second game is recreated for around ten minutes in the third act. The animatronics found in this sequel are more in keeping with how the animatronics are portrayed in the games, which is to say they are malicious, murderous, and scary. Charlotte/The Marionette is legitimately scary/freaky/terrifying throughout (especially her design).
All the animatronics are of a high-quality, though the dilapidated prototypes/The Withered impress the most. In general, we get less time with the animatronics here. They don’t really show up until the third act, although Toy Chica is featured (albeit selfomly) in the second act. Freddy Carter as Michael the security guard (a role I would bet money was originally intended for Markiplier, who is missing YET AGAIN!) might be the stand-out as far as the human cast goes. He only gets two scenes but definitely has screen presence.
Matthew Lillard is sprinkled throughout the first act but fails to impress. Skeet Ulrich does a great job in his one scene. Apparently, he is supposed to be Henry Emily, though I didn’t get that while watching the film. It’s fun to see Wayne Knight play an Jerky McJerkface again, and he’s in more of this than you would expect. The screenplay and dialogue are simply atrocious. There is a lot of stuff that just doesn’t make any sense (like Fazfest, for example. Who is putting this festival on?) and there is some Christian propaganda concerning Heaven very lightly inserted here. There are also some references to the games (like a nod to Security Breach).
Scott Cawthon is the sole credited screenwriter, and that was likely a VERY bad decision. I love you, Scott, but you really should just stick to developing games. You lack the sauce for films. Emma Tammi returns to direct and does a terrible job. This movie feels directionless and aimless, though in Tammi’s defense there’s only so much you can do with this material.
Complete with an insulting non-ending that refuses to wrap anything up, FNAF 2 is a disappointment and mostly a waste of time and money. There is some amount of fun to be had here (and there are more scares), but not nearly enough to earn this anywhere near a passing grade. FNAF 2 has less intelligence than a Chuck. E. Cheese animatronic show, and it lacks any of Chuck and Pal’s charm, too. It's fun to laugh at/make fun of, but that doesn't mean it's any good.
If you feel so inclined, stick around for a mid-credits scene that teases events from game 3 pretty accurately.
1.5 STARS