A die hard fan honest thoughts about the FNAF 2 movie

SPOILER WARNING: This article contains major spoilers about the events and characters of the Five Nights at Freddy’s(FNAF) 2 movie.

I have been a die hard fan of the FNAF series ever since the first game came out when I was only 12 years old. A series that began as an indie game developer’s last attempt to make a successful game, has now turned into an empire in the horror genre. Consisting of over 10 mainline games, multiple spinoff titles, a novel series, a vast collection of short stories, activity books and now two movies, FNAF has become one of the most recognizable brands not just in horror, but media in general. With every new game, book, or other miscellaneous release, the world, and more importantly the story of FNAF grows, to a point of where it’s been hard to keep track of, as everything we know of the true story of the games we as fans had to piece together from hidden or cryptic hints, puzzles and easter eggs. The movies exist as a way for fans to see the brand they love, put all in one spot. Taking the most iconic parts from across all FNAF media, and putting in one spot to tell a version of the story we’ve spent years uncovering.

Before I dive into my thoughts on the movie, there’s a few things I want to clarify as we go forward. The story of the movies exists within its own universe, and therefore has its own lore and story separate from the games. This is also true with the books, and short stories of the franchise. They all exist as parallels to each other, but each media exists within its own bubble, so things will never line up one-for-one when you compare them to each other. That being said, as we move forward I will be referencing these other media, specifically the games, as they are the biggest inspiration for the events in the movies. With that out of the way, let’s get into my thoughts and opinions of the FNAF 2 movie.

Fanfare:

Something the movie does extremely well is all the nods and easter eggs that only real fans of the franchise would understand. From the opening scene, where a fan-made song by The Living Tombstone plays behind the actions with the iconic children laughing in the background, to the end credits of a recording of Henry speaking to Mike, a nod to the FNAF Ultimate custom night monologue, this movie was packed with little details geared towards the fans. Some were more obvious than others, like Mike needing to wear a Freddy mask like you do in the FNAF 2 game, while others were much more hidden. My personal favourite was a single frame where Shadow Bonny is shown before disappearing as the light turns on. It was a single frame and had no impact on the story or the characters, but it was a fantastic mod to the easter egg that existed within the FNAF 2 game. There’s probably even some I missed my first time watching, and would need to re-watch to catch.

Jumpscares/Atmosphere:

FNAF rose to fame on its point and click game player, where a mistake would lead to the animatronic characters jumpscaring you. The first movie, in my opinion, lacked this. The jumpscares are iconic in FNAF, if you ignore whatever Springtrap was doing in FNAF 3, so for this aspect to not really be translated in the first movie left me disappointed. I know I wasn’t the only fan who felt this way, as people had similar comments online after the first movie. Which is why I’m very happy to say the FNAF 2 movie did a much better job at adding these jump scare elements, with animatronics lunging towards the screen paired with the iconic metallic screams of the possessed robots. They don’t overdo it, and while there are a few that are predictable, on multiple occasions I ended up jumping out of my seat a little. They did a better job at delivering a creepier, scarier environment more authentic to that you feel playing the games.

Casting:

This is a minor note but one I wanted to bring up. Casting Skeet Ulrich to play Henry was absolutely perfect not only because he’s a great actor, but also because of his connections to Mathew Lillard who plays William Afton, and their roles in Scream.

The Marionette:

I hate to say it but the use of the Marionette, more commonly called “The Puppet”, left me disappointed. The Puppet is used as the main antagonist in this movie, which is fine, I just feel like they took some things too far. To better understand why I feel this way I think it’s important for you to understand the role and purpose of The Puppet in the games. So I’m gonna summarize that as best and compact as I can here. If you’re already familiar with her story, feel free to skip this paragraph. In the story of the games The Puppet is an animatoric that acts as a security measure, to ensure kids, and more specifically a little girl named Charlie, are safe at the pizzeria. One day The Puppet gets trapped and is unable to stop Charlie from being locked outside, where she is then killed by the main antagonist in the series, William Afton. Charlie’s soul would then go on to possess The Puppet. Later, William Afton would go on to kill several more children and The Puppet, still possessed by Charlie, would act as a shepard, giving these souls the gift of life and guiding them to possess other animatronic bodies. There’s a lot more detail to this and the story continues but I think it gets the point across that Charlie aka The Puppet, is a protector. Within the games she wants nothing more but to protect the other children and help them get revenge on the game who killed both them and herself. 

Image via: Five Nights at Freddy’s Wiki

In the movie, this still holds true… kinda. The movie never really goes over if Charlie was the one who guilds the kids souls or not. What we do see however, is a Puppet who’s determined to get revenge on those who she deemed failed her. In the movie, The Puppet is not a security measure, but instead a conductor, something that can control the other animatorics via wireless signals. Which already is a creative difference between the games and movies. On top of that, Charlie dies not by being locked out on a rainy day and being killed in an alley, but by watching a child be kidnapped. She tries to get the attention of an adult but they blow her off, so she goes into the back rooms herself to try and save the boy. In the end she does save the boy, but not before being stabbed multiple times by William Afton, and dies in The Puppets arms as she looks out over a restaurant of people who ignored her pleas for help. So, in the movie’s continuity, Charlie blames the adults for her death, not William Afton.

This isn’t really what I have a problem with however. While it’s not identical, you can see the parallels in the story. What did ruin the character for me was the fact that they gave The Puppet some new ability to possess other people. This is something we’ve never seen in this franchise in this way. Charlie, who remained mostly sentient as The Puppet, would take over people’s bodies like a parasite. The movie stated this was the only way The Puppet could leave the pizzeria, but it felt like such a lazy shoe in to make The Puppet a bigger threat to allow it to take on the role of antagonist. Which was something, in my opinion, it was never meant to do. Everything The Puppet does just felt so out of character for it, and while I know I said the games and movies can’t and won’t be the same. To see what they did with The Marionette left me feeling disappointed.

Michael Afton:

Even more so than the Puppet, I was not a fan of the way they portrayed one of the most iconic characters in the franchise. Much like The Puppet, to understand why I feel the way I do about Micheal, not to be confused with Mike, the main protagonist of the movies, I think it’s best if you understand his role in the games. In the games, Micheal is the oldest son of William Afton. He has a brother who’s name we still don’t know truly, and a sister named Elizabeth. When Michael was a young teenager, he pulled a prank on his younger brother, putting him in the mouth of an animatronic not realizing the risk this posed. The Animatronic would bite down on his brother’s head, and while it’s believed in the story his brother lived for a short time in a coma, we do know this prank would be the reason his younger brother would die in the hospital from the injuries. No I’m going to skip A LOT of details here cause honestly it’s quite complicated and mostly unnecessary. What’s important is after this event, he is riddled with grief and regret, and after the death of his sister, he becomes bitter and resentful. He uncovers the atrocities his father has committed and sets his sights on redemption, and attempts to atone for his own mistakes, by putting an end to his fathers. Ultimately, Michael would succeed, by setting a trap, turning in all the animatronics, and freeing the souls of the dead kids in a blazing inferno, as we too would burn with them. Michael made a terrible mistake as a teenager, and in the end out go out the hero of what many people call the “Afton” era of FNAF

So, imagine my displeasure when his character in the movie is nothing like this. In fact almost the complete opposite. In the movie, Michael lures a team of paranormal hunters to the old pizzeria in an attempt to free The Puppet from its dormant state. As the movie progresses he sorta disappears but comes back near the end with a band of murderous animatronics with the goal to “[Kill] half the town by morning” to paraphrase one of his quotes in the movie. He’s a pure villain, wishing to continue his fathers work. Again I’ll point to the movies being different as within the movies, we’ve only been shown 2 children of William, not 3. His daughter is also named Vanessa, not Elizabeth and is still alive acting as a secondary protagonist, unlike the games where she died very young. I understand they’re more so using the recognizability of the name for the character more than trying to stay true to the character we know in the games. But it was still disappointing to see the hero of the first era of FNAF be portrayed as straight evil. Now, it seems likely a third movie is to come so I suppose there’s still a chance for him to redeem himself.

Overall:

Despite my disappointment with a few select characters in the movie, I still really enjoyed it. I think its biggest payoff is yet to be seen as a lot of what it was doing was setting up the third movie. If the work done in this movie pays off in the third I think I’ll be able to look back and feel better about the movie. I’ll always appreciate the fact they don’t use CGI for the animatronics and it’s all done with puppeteering. It’s not a movie I’d be willing to spend the money on to watch again in theatres but I don’t regret going to see it once. If you’re a fan of the franchise I think you’ll enjoy yourself and all the little details they add.

Rating:

7/10

Header Imagine Via: Tristyn Battle

Instagram: Tristynb_04
Twitter(X): Tbattle_04

Comments