421: Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 (2025)

SPEAKER_01 0:04

And then there's just me scrambling with my little notebook trying to write down a lot of my notes are like, what? Question mark, question mark.

SPEAKER_02 0:24

If this is your first time listening, welcome to the party. We are a horror movie review podcast dedicated to telling you whether a movie is a hack.

SPEAKER_00 0:30

Total joke, a waste of time.

SPEAKER_02 0:32

Horror slash. Totally killer, pun intended. We believe horror is for everyone, and at such we're rating these movies with a perspective we've gained from our varied walks of life and the flavors of fear we fancy most. My name is Chris, I'm your friendly neighborhood slasher enthusiast. This week I'm drawn by the Super Flex based guy Mac.

SPEAKER_00 0:48

I have to go pull the heads off some very bad people.

SPEAKER_02 0:50

And the paranormal paramour. Pinks. Just as I thought. Nothing in there. This week we're back in theaters to see the highly anticipated sequel of a horror video game adaptation.

SPEAKER_00 1:01

And if you're a patron, you'll also get to hear our B side at the end of this episode where we revisit Chuck E. Cheese's Conspiracies.

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Before we get down to business though, we have some follow-up.

SPEAKER_00 1:11

Let's follow up on the Slasher's Choice Awards. So Slasher's Choice season is almost here. And this year's awards are shaping up to be a wild one. You know, every December, we turn the spotlight over to you to decide which films stood out, which ones failed spectacularly, and which moments deserve to be immortalized in our year-end episode. Voting opens soon, so keep an eye on our socials, upcoming episodes, and Patreon, so you don't miss the chance to cast your ballots for the 2025 Slasher's Choice Awards.

SPEAKER_02 1:42

And remember, folks, this year you get to vote for the worst nookie sacrifice. Because yes, so many things happen in horror movies because one dude's just trying to get laid. I'm not surprised.

SPEAKER_00 1:53

And that's our follow-up.

SPEAKER_02 1:54

Well, in October 2023, we witnessed the feature film adaptation of a video game franchise, but this franchise had been amassing a passionate cult fan base since 2014. While the film dominated domestic box offices with an $80 million debut, the question at hand is whether its successor can find the same success in 2025. This film picks up one year after the events of its predecessor, and while Mike has attempted to hide the truth about Abby's animatronic friends, she sets herself on a path of inevitable discovery and is about to learn just how dark Freddy's origins really are. This week we're talking about Five Nights at Freddy's 2. What were you both expecting going into this?

SPEAKER_01 2:38

So I was definitely expecting a lot of jump scares, a lot of cheesiness, and a ton of Easter eggs and nods of the general franchise that I would just not understand. And I was okay with that, but I really was unprepared for how terribly lost I would feel, that's for sure.

SPEAKER_00 2:56

Yeah, I think I didn't think about this movie too much. Maybe it's because of preparing for the holidays and how busy the world has been, but I really just was expecting more possessed animatronics. I was expecting kind of more of the same, but a continuation, and I did not know that I was expecting I don't know, I should have expected, honestly, the 12 people in the audience dressed like FNAF characters, ready to go, hootin' and hollering the whole time. I had no idea that that's what I was up against.

SPEAKER_02 3:28

Okay, so this is actually very fun. And I was thinking back to the last time we did this franchise, which I mean it's more another movie. It was in 2023. The original came out on both streaming and in theaters, and we had the wild and fun idea to just watch it streaming in a watch party on our Discord with our whole community and then roll right into a live recording, which was such a blast. But going into this one and knowing that I enjoyed the first one for what it was, I had this hunch that the only thing I was gonna like about this was seeing the joy on my niece and nephews' faces because they're all massive FNAF fans, and I took them to the theaters to see this movie. And Mac, like you mentioned, there were so many people dressed up. Actually, my niece and nephew's also dressed up, and to some extent, it was more casual, like definitely wearing jeans, a hoodie, etc. But very themed. My nephew Chris actually painted his face to look like the puppet. It was a whole situation, very cute. But guys, we fucking walked into the theater and there was definitely a furry. Like, first thing we walked in there. My nephew was so like, okay, I hope we're not the only ones dressed up. I hope we're not the only ones like doing something. He's like, Oh, I saw the furry tail and you we were good.

SPEAKER_01 4:44

That's wild. That's really wild. I'm but I mean, I guess not entirely surprising. Let me tell you, the fan base goes hard. They go hard for FNAF.

SPEAKER_02 4:57

They really do go hard. And you know what? Like, good for them. Because I was thinking about this, and I I remembered the times of the Star Wars prequel trilogy coming out, and everybody with their lightsabers at the theater. This is probably the most enthusiastic I've seen an opening night, especially with like the fanfare of dressing up. So it was really cool to be in a room of people who love this shit. And I was just sitting back as kind of a passenger. I felt like the whole theater experience was actually relatively quiet, except for a couple of key moments. But I looked around and I saw my niece and nephews just like looking at each other and like making comments to each other. And I saw down in the road in front of us a woman who's probably about my age who's just like like shocked and like pointing at the screen, like that Leonardo DiCaprio gif. It was a lot of that energy. But when I tell you that I expected to not be super jazzed about this, I found myself very underwhelmed the entire time. There's a couple moments and I laughed, and the rest of it, I was like, all right, this really is not for me. So I gotta find some respect for it.

SPEAKER_01 6:10

Though, let's be honest. I felt like I was a new kid in class, okay? A complete outsider in that theater. The best way that I could describe it is imagine you're a new kid in class, everyone is just making jokes, you know, everyone's in on the joke, and you're trying really hard to laugh along because everyone else seems to laugh, but you just don't quite know if the joke was funny because you don't get the context. You don't understand. The whole theater was erupting in laughter or gasping, cheering the whole entire theater. I felt like the one person in a theater of maybe a hundred seats that didn't understand a single thing. I was silent looking left to right, like, oh, nice. I felt stupid, truthfully. I felt silly. But something you said earlier, it's like I still felt glad that everyone was having a good time. So to be clear, it was one of those moments that I felt like I'm okay that maybe I'm not having the best time with this movie because what's giving me joy is that everyone else is having a blast. And I've been able to have plenty of films and TV shows where I am them, right? And maybe this just isn't for me. Maybe I'm just not the particular audience that this movie is for, and that's totally, totally okay.

SPEAKER_02 7:31

You know, I was even thinking about that, Binx, because when I picked up my nephew from school earlier, we're having a whole conversation about Stranger Things. I'm like, damn, kid, you were so young. I didn't say this, but I was thinking about this. You were so young when Stranger Things first came out, and so now you have a whole reaction to the last episode that we got of the first set of episodes for season five. And I realized that, man, my Stranger Things is his FNAF. Like, this is just a whole thing. Like when I'm over here trying to talk about Stranger Things and nobody's fucking getting on the train. And you know, when I when I look in that theater, I'm like, well, I really am the only person here who doesn't fucking like this shit. Okay, all right. That's that's cool. That's cool.

SPEAKER_01 8:16

You're absolutely right. I mean, God, everyone knows that I'm a Stranger Things like fanatic, obviously. What you don't see, folks, if you're listening, is my room is filled with Stranger Things stuff left and right. So absolutely. And that's why I'm like, it's okay that maybe I'm just not vibing with a lot of what's going on here. Personally, it felt like outside of that context of knowing, okay, this is a game franchise, whatever, if I remove all that, what the movie felt like to me and just my experience watching it was like if it was a filler episode of a TV show, there's some fun moments here and there, but I'm really just wondering what's getting resolved? Like, what's the actual situation at hand? And is it enough to really get me through it? Thank God this movie's pretty short, too. So there's not much complaints in that department, but it just felt like a filler.

SPEAKER_00 9:09

I think I can understand where you're coming from there. I mean, there's for me an age issue, very kid friendly when you're watching this, and the whole escalation of everything is very slow as well. So you got the slow build, pretty much kid friendly, not much shown on screen. You feel, I think, out of place while while watching this film if you're around our age, right? And so I think it's still fun though. I don't think it was not fun to like experience. It's very obvious there's nods to things from the games that I don't understand, but I can tell in those moments, oh, everyone's clapping or cheering. Something cool is happening, and they're enjoying the way it's showing up on screen. I wish that happened in video game movies of my generation, which I hear maybe that'll start to get better soon. So I'm I'm happy for everyone else who had like an absolute blast for me. It was just kind of a fun thing to watch.

SPEAKER_02 10:00

It was actually surprising to me because again, I I had my niece and nephew in the car with me, and we had a 30 to 45 minute drive, and they just lore dumped on me. And I asked for it. I said, I need to know what's going on. What should I be expecting? What I really needed was a refresher on the first movie and the lore, because I had been hearing and learning so much about FNAF since then that I'm like, okay, the lines are a little bit blurred because the movie does do things differently. Our house at Halloween Horror Nights did some things differently. And so I needed to go straight to the FNAF biblical source and just understand what the hell I was walking into. But I was surprised that I could not only A remember some of what they shared, but also B that I could actually point out these moments where I'm like, oh, the lore is kind of starting to make a little bit of sense, but also I don't want to hear anybody talk shit about the Halloween timeline. I don't want to hear anybody talk shit about the Mortal Kombat timeline or the Friday the 13th timeline if y'all are out over here simping for five nights at Freddy's, because the game, the lore, it's convoluted.

SPEAKER_01 11:08

There are a lot of things that are very apparent to me just from these two movies alone that make it clear that we really have to suspend diff disbelief, right? Or suspend belief. I think that it's very clear to me that we're just here for a silly good time, and that's okay. I can do that to an extent. My surprise was that there were a lot of people involved in this movie, characters specifically, that we were led to believe were like really prominent to the story or potentially just like to me, it seemed, even from like the trailer and just a little bit of the interview and the press that's been going on about the movie, right? Led me to believe that they were going to be someone prominent, maybe take part in the plot, maybe drive it in a particular direction, etc. And that was just not the case. There were some choices here that were very, very different. So I was surprised, but that was also my disappointment because at the same time, I felt like these characters could have really been compelling and made the story richer if they had stuck around to an extent. And it feels like it was just random. Like, what were they really there for?

SPEAKER_02 12:17

100%. A lot of people in this movie were just accessories, and that was weird. But the other thing that surprised me being because I don't I don't know if I told you this, but I have been on a kick of Hunger Games again. I'm back on my bullshit. I re-watched the first movie, then I watched for the first time the ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, and then I watched Catching Fire, then both Mocking Jays, and then I rewatched them all again the next day. I don't know why I all of a sudden have been on this kick and I found myself appreciating PETA so much more. And I watched this movie, and I'm thinking, fuck you, almost. I I was so disappointed that I could not get behind his character or just about any fucking decision he made. We'll go into more detail in the spoiler zone, but that was a big one for me. And I was like, ugh.

SPEAKER_01 13:07

Oh, listen, we will unpack that in the spoiler zone indeed. Everyone knows, everyone knows how I feel, both about Hunger Games and Josh Hutcherson in particular. I talked about it a lot in the Five Nights at Freddy's episode that we did for the first film. So yeah, I think that at least tempering the expectations now, right, with a lot some of these characters is important. For those that don't have a lot of like passion for this franchise, they're just going for a good time, maybe taking their kids or their friends that played this game when they're younger. Like you're probably going for particular actors, obviously, or just curiosity, etc. And so I felt like, man, I was really surprised by the bait and switch we got there.

SPEAKER_00 13:51

It also seems perhaps like it's a setup for more. Maybe they're trying to say we're committed. That's what it seemed like to me. It was like, hey, next time on Dragon Ball Z, you gotta come back, you gotta watch the next episode. That's a bit what it felt like.

SPEAKER_02 14:03

No, but no, this movie is trying to fucking U-Haul. No. We don't need a commitment to more. We don't even know what this is. We're still exploring. You know what I mean? This is somebody who tries to lock you in and propose on maybe the second date.

SPEAKER_01 14:21

No, thank you. Listen, and I don't know much about U-Hauling, but I know that that's gotta be at least a red flag at the very least. I'm not gonna get scammed on the side. This sounds like those Netflix documentaries when you hear about these poor women that have been manipulated into giving a rich guy from who knows where their credit card information because they've fallen in love. I don't need all that. I don't need to be like scammed FNAF. I'm already bought my ticket, I'm on my way. You don't have to trick me.

SPEAKER_00 14:53

I can't tell if it was an editing choice, if this was a story thing, if this was a stay tuned for more kind of thing. It seems deliberate in how we don't take advantage of all the great acting, you know, ability that we have on screen here, but maybe we'll get more. To me, though, this felt like part two of the first movie. It didn't feel like the second movie. Maybe that's a good thing to have that kind of continuation, and I'll talk about in the sweller zone where that falls apart. But for the most part, it kind of felt like, oh, I missed I missed the second half of the movie, and now we're getting to rewatch it. And it was kind of kind of a disappointment, but also kind of a surprise for it to feel at least that it's continuing.

SPEAKER_02 15:36

Yeah, I think the other part of that, Mac, is it feels like the post-credit scene to the first movie. And the way I felt walking out of this at the ending of this movie, I had the same feeling I had when watching Hellhouse LLC lineage in theaters earlier this year. Because that movie ends on a what the fuck? And it's not even that this movie is as bad as that. I I want to be very clear like FNAF 2 does not deserve that. But it was the same sentiment of closing the door, but also sequel baiting and just demanding more. And it's like, no, no, no, I want you to call me in six months and then see if I'm still interested. I don't want you to tell me right now that we're going on a second, third, fourth uh date in the honeymoon. No fucking way. No, thank you. The only thing that frustrates me about this movie, and I was actually thinking about this in the car. My nephew Chris, the other Chris Rojas, he's 17 now, or he was about to be 17, but he was a small kid when this movie came out. So he is he's getting to the point after being a child who is obsessed with FNAF, he is now at the point where he could probably go see an NC17 movie alone. So just put that into context of how long this has been around. A lot of the people in that theater were my age, or if not a little bit older. My point is FNAF grew this cult following with children or young adults or teens 10 years ago, and yet we're still putting out PG 13 shit. And what I'm saying is, sure, have your PG 13 moment. But just like there have been some theatrical releases that have different cuts or different endings, give me a choose your own adventure FNAF where you can either go see the PG 13 family-friendly one or the rated R cut for the fans who have been down for this franchise since the very beginning, who made it what it is, and want to see a little bit more fear, a little bit more gore, a little bit more brutality.

SPEAKER_01 17:48

Well, because I think what I find so curious about all of this is that I'm in my 30s going to see this movie. And if I let's say I'm a fan of this game, I've played it when I was younger. It's a horror game. I've played it because it was creepy and scary, at least it seems, because obviously the film's a horror, right? So it's got that thrill. So then why is the movie not matching that energy? A lot of the scares here feel very forced, repetitive, cookie cutter. So that is one thing. The other is animatronics is an actual phobia that exists, right? So we already have that to play off of. And I think that it could really get dialed the fuck up if it was a real horror film that like wasn't afraid to get a little bloody. And I really liked some of the kills. There weren't even many because it is PG 13, but one of the kills in particular of the first one was like really shocking, but it lacked the blood and and just the step forward to really take it there. And I get, and I find it curious, but I do get that if your audience is going to be a younger, younger demographic, then you need to dial that back. But then you need to kind of ramp up something else. And that has to be the plot. That has to be the dialogue, that has to be something else, dude. Because if not, I feel like I'm like a parent that has to watch the same episode of Bluey on repeat 20,000 times with their child. And I mean, Godspeed to a lot of you parents out there that have to and have to power through that. I'm not there yet. But that's kind of what it could feel like if you're watching this and I'm like, well, I want at least something. Give me something that can feed my spirit.

SPEAKER_00 19:36

Yeah, you do feel every bit of the P and every bit of the G when it when it comes to this rating. The 13, not even that. I just think back to like when we were teenagers, typically we wanted to watch rated armor movies. And the people who were preteens were watching the, you know, PG 13. So is the audience for this similar? Is this actually made for preteens and not really for teens? Are those preteens that familiar with the games? Maybe they are. Maybe this is who they're aiming for, but it doesn't seem like a teen movie, even though it's classified as one, technically. It's it's a bit weak in the scare department. Uh the gore, I I don't really care, but when it comes to fear, we're getting kind of canned jump scares constantly.

SPEAKER_02 20:18

And that is what's frustrating because I had the same feeling walking through the five nights of Freddy's house and Halloween horror nights. Because it's just you're immersed in this environment that looks really cool. And I love how screen accurate it is. And I love all the merch. It's great. I want to love this property, but I feel nothing. I feel nothing. You just have a bunch of animatronics around. It's like, oh, okay. Half of these animatronics don't feel threatening, half of them feel like you just want to cuddle with them. Now, things take a turn in this movie. What I can respect is that it actually takes a turn in a way that sets itself apart from its source material, but I just wish it had dialed up more with its intensity, with its ability to make me feel something as a bystander. If you are a parent who has to take your kids to watch this movie, I want you to be able to get something out of this too. And I just don't feel like you do.

SPEAKER_01 21:13

And just to put it into perspective here, I'm gonna name a few movies that are from like the early 2000s that were PG 13. Okay. Thirteen Ghosts, funny enough, with Matthew Lillard, Exorcism of Emily Rose, we just reviewed that one. Signs, Cloverfield, another one that we just spoke about, Drag Me to Hell. I'm naming these movies because I feel like a lot of these maybe aren't the most terrifying, but they definitely give more of a fright than this. And I feel like the excuse of this being animatronics is not good enough. I think we really could have gone somewhere here. So when it comes to my perspective on like originality, right, I I think that it's hard for me to. speak on it because I'm not familiar with the franchise from my experience watching it with a theater full of mega fans. It sounds like they did a great job in tying it in, fan service, etc. So I love that for all of you. But if I want to look at it from a perspective of just a regular sequel, it seems like, okay, we're moving a little bit forward, but as you're moving forward, you just kind of are making things up as you go. Some things just don't add up with the story and it ends kind of abruptly in some places. Some threads are just kind of like left out in the dust. A lot of it doesn't make a lot of sense. And it's not just because I don't know about the game. It's just like technically like and narratively, these characters and their arcs just don't quite seem normal.

SPEAKER_02 22:52

Yeah, there's a lot of mess in here. And there are a lot of things that really ask you to squint your eyes just right and look the other way on some details because it doesn't feel super cohesive. And what's interesting to me was seeing the reactions of so many people who gasped and were excited and loved seeing specific Easter eggs or tie-ins from the video games, etc. But there are a couple things that felt super different even from what my niece and nephews were sharing with me before the movie. Like characters specifically in the way that they are very different from the game. And so that's why it was interesting to me that I didn't see a lot of distaste for that. Now granted I haven't looked up anything about this movie's reception online. I imagine maybe it's not great but who's to say can't wait to get into the spoiler zone and I have a little curated list of things that my my niece and nephews caught.

SPEAKER_00 23:53

I think a similar movie to me though is you know something where you build with blocks and it's there's a chicken and goodness it's Minecraft but the reception to that people were like this is the worst thing ever it's not even Minecraft it's nothing like the game except you had a bunch of people out there yelling chicken jockey and bringing their families to go watch it. I've never played the game never watched the movie but it seems similar in that it doesn't have to be perfect but it does have to entertain and it has to do fan service and people will still love it. And I don't know how this compares to the game I've never played the games but there were those moments where people were cheering they were clapping they were again hooting and hollering all throughout the film agreeing with what's going on when they would see a character show up or something happened to a character and they were so excited to see that on screen that to me I'm just curious was the whole thing like that was it just moments of fan service you know how does it really compare and did it make you all happy and how it how it showed up because it sure seemed like it while we were watching it. I know nothing of the games if this is close, you know more power to them.

SPEAKER_02 24:56

You know it's really funny I know I've mentioned some of the reactions that I saw in the theater a lot of them were on the quieter side and I'm actually just thinking back there was one to two unanimous moments where people in my audience made a loud enough sound where you knew we were all on the same page and they both surrounded Mike's character. Again, can't wait to get into that but I can assure you that one of them was the ending of this movie because what the actual fuck. Again I mentioned it earlier this left me with the same feeling I had when watching Hellhouse LLC lineage two different leagues of movie and this one certainly is technically better in just about every way but the ending for me felt super underwhelming super disappointing even though an aspect of the climax I felt was probably the highest point in the whole movie.

SPEAKER_01 26:00

That's interesting. I think that for me I kind of just surrendered by the time that the ending came around to the point where I just accepted that I don't understand how we got here and I'm really struggling to catch up with everybody else but I suppose if I reflected a little bit more in the moment it's pretty predictable I sub I guess like I said I suppose that I can see the trajectory of where this movie was going to go in hindsight. So I'm not entirely mad at it but it is mostly in part due to a particular character that I am a huge fan of and I think that if there's going to be something that will get me into FNAF it's going to be this one character. I I have to admit.

SPEAKER_00 26:48

It's such a weird ending though. And you know as somebody who maybe grew up watching like 80s and 90s movies exclusively because that's when I was alive but they perhaps it was the cocaine would just feel good about having an ending be an ending and then two characters given a high five and then credits roll and we're done. And we don't get that here we get this like meandering and then we get post credit scenes. You're not Marvel. We don't need post credit scenes just give me the end of two of them right so just give me the end of the movie. Make it be done and then if there's more let me be excited about it not be like oh I have to watch it now because the story's incomplete there's so many films it's all about like making money or something you know the video games don't work like that. You know the video games are like here's your game here's your story you made it through great job and that's what we want on screen.

SPEAKER_02 27:42

I need you to know I saw the credits roll and I knew that we're gonna have an end credit scene because Binks had given the warning and I still wasn't that into watching it got through it stood up and my nephew Gavin's like hey I kind of want to watch until like the end end and I'm like ah recording okay I get it I'm gonna go use the bathroom I'll come back for y'all sure enough I come back and everybody was still in the theater and there was apparently another end credit scene and I'm like what what the fuck? Or at least and some audio. Mac I don't know if you stayed for both of them but I was like this movie has a lot of nerve demanding so much time and attention.

SPEAKER_01 28:23

But it's funny that we bring up Marvel because that's kind of how it felt being in that theater I felt like I was watching Endgame all over again with everyone screaming and shouting and losing their minds like a majority of the movie. And then there's just me scrambling with my little notebook trying to write down a lot of my notes are like what? Question mark, question mark I just don't understand what's happening. So definitely funny that we're bringing up Marvel because I absolutely expect that there are going to be end credit scenes for something like this. After watching the reaction that I just got I'm I wouldn't even be shocked if we're gonna get four more movies of this all with an ending that is just as big of a cliffhanger as this one.

SPEAKER_02 29:05

Listen the only movie I want to see with that kind of reaction is Pooniverse Monsters Assemble. That's the kind of nonsense that I'm here for. But before we start making our way towards our ratings Mac how would you rate the gore score?

SPEAKER_00 29:20

Look I would call this a medium low especially if you're bringing kids to it which a lot of people are apparently doing medium low for them for us adults definitely low.

SPEAKER_02 29:28

Yeah I was gonna say that's a real generous helping of medium.

SPEAKER_00 29:31

Again it's the P in the PG wait no it's the G in the PG something.

SPEAKER_02 29:36

And what about the animal report?

SPEAKER_01 29:38

So the animatronics may be animals but we are safe for this report.

SPEAKER_02 29:43

Let's go ahead and get into our ratings Five Nights of Freddy's 2 from 2025 was it a hack or a slash and I'd like to just kick us off here just to get it out of the way there is a movie for everyone out there. There's a franchise for everyone out there, a property for everyone out there and I love that for you. The thing that gave me a lot of joy watching this movie was getting to take my niece and nephews with me. Because that was the first time I've just taken them on a little solo excursion to go see a movie. They're teenagers they eat this up they love it. And I think about me sitting in theaters for the Blumhouse Halloween trilogy and I think about how much I loved that and how that was years of my fandom culminated on screen. And so I'm really glad that this movie exists for those who love this property. I'm probably gonna go see it again with Ali son that's gonna be a blast but the thing for me as a as an elder millennial actually not even that much of an elder millennial I feel like I'm an elder millennial. I feel like I'm probably two generations older than I am but I I'm watching this movie in a theater knowing that I prefer slashers I'm here for terrifier I'm here for my bloody gory nonsense and I'm not really here for Five Nights at Freddy's I can respect what the first movie did and I slashed that one. I enjoyed it for what it was but for me there's too many things in this movie that just don't add up you have aspects of the plot that just do not gel together well. It's not cohesive I leave with more questions than answers but not the types of questions that leave me wondering what's gonna happen next. It's not that kind of question. It's not intrigue it's okay well what was that and as I reflect on this movie I think about Chica in so many scenes saying that she wants to know what's going on inside someone's head and then there's a moment where she says just as I thought nothing at all and that's what this movie feels like this movie feels like nothing at all it means it's unfortunately a hack.

SPEAKER_00 32:00

I see where you're coming from for sure. I think if you loved this movie you know what 6-7 means you call people like us people born in an in the 1900s and you feel okay with that. But I think for me it was okay right as now the elders would say it was mid. And I think that's alright. It was still fun. I'm more intrigued by the lore of it all especially if the games go way deeper than this that's more interesting. I mean I found myself with different properties over the years just pulling up a wiki and reading deep into stuff about characters I'll never see on screen. Star Wars is a great example of that where there's 10,000 characters you can dive into and stories and things that happen and you can never even watch it never read a book and you can still get like the goosebumps from how cool it was that somebody put that work into it. I love that kind of stuff. And I'm sure that this exists for Five Nights of Freddy's those moments felt more interesting than the rest of the film. It's kind of boring it's kind of slow. There's not a lot of kills not at all and so there's not a lot to go off here but I think as a thriller for kids it was fun. It wasn't a bad movie it wasn't for me a joke or a waste of time so I'm gonna give it a slash it's very nice of you.

SPEAKER_01 33:19

It really is I deeply respect this franchise and its fan base okay I want that to be clear. It's one that I wish I got into because what no one could ever take away from FNAF is that its fans go hard and the filmmakers really are feeding their fans well. They fully committed to not wanting to make sense for a general audience and I can respect that brave choice. Okay as for the rest of us well I just feel like at this point we have to accept this movie for being a generic PG13 quick watch. There were certainly a lot of movies that felt there were certainly a lot of moments that felt silly and illogical others that felt like a Disney Channel original movie film. So like you know we're talking a little bit cozy at times entails some bad acting for sure a forced romantic subplot you know and and at the very least a semi-decent mystery narrative but overall I will say on the pro side it's a step up from the previous one. I think that there were moments that were a touch cooler touch cooler kills here and there certainly more fan service which as a theater experience I think was kind of fun even though I felt you know a little uncomfortable not getting in on the joke I was happy that everyone else was having a good time if you're that kind of person, I suppose, an empath but lastly I think what really does it for me was an introduction of a particular character who I found very compelling and creepy that I wish existed outside of the context of FNAF. But all those great things aside on the other hand these improvements that I just mentioned don't quite merit a full 180 opinion change from me. I think that ultimately if you are a longtime fan of the franchise I would strongly recommend that you check this movie out. You're gonna have a great time because it is made specifically for you and that's great. But if you're like me and you don't know a thing about a thing, I would definitely say this is going to be a hack for sure.

SPEAKER_02 35:36

Well with that Five Nights at Freddy's 2 from 2025 has earned two hacks and one slash and we'll see just how generous that slash was when we get into our spoiler zone. Now we have a lot to unpack here including some of the things that either remain the same or different from the video game property but for now go check it out in theaters and then join us in the second half so we can break down all these spoilers together.

SPEAKER_00 36:10

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SPEAKER_01 38:07

Well the very clear answer I would hope and pray is Newman from Seinfeld just kidding in this movie it's Mr. Berg and I have to say that that right there was the filmmakers like the director the writer whomever was in charge that was their nod to our generation was having Newman in this movie because when I saw him there I was like oh someone I like understand aside from obviously the love of my life Josh Hutcherson and Matthew Little's Keith Ulrich but to have a deep cut like that was impressive. What was even more impressive was having him be such a pain in the ass as much as he was in Seinfeld except worse because Mr. Berg had me fired the fuck up that misogynistic piece of garbage listen if this had been an R-rated film I would have really wanted to see that kill in full fledged madness but we'll take what we can get.

SPEAKER_02 39:08

Yeah I'm thinking about the 2018 Halloween when we have Michael Meyer stomping Dr. Sartain that's the kind of gooey mess I wanted to see come out of Chica's hands.

SPEAKER_00 39:18

I'm kind of glad we didn't get too much but we definitely didn't get enough this was the prime example of like every kill where they did it all off screen. They went a little bit further at least they kept his head on screen longer and showed that the fingers were getting closer together to hey I'm telling you his head is getting squished because that's about as strong as that effect was but you're right in that he was a jerk. I kind of loved it I I think this is an okay nod to perhaps an older generation because we're spoiled with Stranger Things of course to mention it once more as having every nod to people that we loved to watch on screen. But this was interesting because he's so different from watching him in Seinfeld and the jerkiness that you get here is like why? Like why be that much of a douche and then when he gets got got it was okay. I think it was an acceptable way to take him out.

SPEAKER_01 40:08

It felt like it was so forced in a sense because it really was out of left field. Why are you such a dick? Like to this one girl do you really think that this girl can't be a woman in STEM that badly of all fucking people in this classroom it was a little odd but I mean whatever I guess it worked on me because I was fired up when he ended up dying.

SPEAKER_02 40:31

Yeah he had my favorite death undoubtedly but I do want to point out a couple others one Lisa bless you Lisa I really wished you had stayed in the movie longer. I thought that she was gonna deliver something else I thought the entire angle of this group had so much more to give but also and this is one of my many disappointments in this movie not the worst part of the movie I really disliked the way the puppet's face looked on other people starting with Lisa I thought it looked freaking terrible.

SPEAKER_01 41:10

Fair that's fair now I mentioned earlier my disappointment being characters lack of potential obviously McKenna Grace playing Lisa how are you gonna go around and throw that woman who has been in I don't even know at this point I think it's like over 40 films this year alone she's been in like five it feels like I mean I I love this actress she's great I think that she's gonna be incredible you know in terms of her career her career moving forward but they knew what they were doing because they put that girl in all of the press made it seem like she was going to be in the movie funny that you brought up Hunger Games because she's gonna be in the new one and I'm like oh my God this is incredible her and Josh Hutcherson together the Hunger Games and FNAF that's so cute. She's in the movie for like five minutes. Yes but can I tell you something that's even funnier that my nephew schooled me on and wow I need to hang out with kids more often because I feel so much more in touch with the world now apparently when she was younger she did PETA Mallark fan edits and she admitted this to a reporter and the reporter broke it to Josh and Josh learned about this live in an interview and she was absolutely mortified she's like if I had known I would end up working with him one day I never would have admitted to this hilarious can I can I give you one better actually because she got got a second time so there was an in an interview with the entire cast including Matthew Lillard and she made a fan edit of Matthew Lillard on a like a secret fan account that she has a TikTok specifically a secret TikTok she did a fan edit of Matthew Lillard like earlier this year and that she admitted herself.

SPEAKER_02 42:58

Okay you know what the only way this could have been better is if the fan edit was of Billy and Stu being gay for each other. Which is what we all need.

SPEAKER_01 43:06

Let's be very clear I I love McKenna Grace. I think she's so sweet so cute. She's I mean it's a little bit of bias because she plays my favorite character from Haunting of Hill House but aside from that I think she's just like in every movie somehow somehow that you've probably ever seen in your life. So I felt like when she got got I was so thrown off because take the actress aside the whole idea of having this paranormal like young group going in I thought that that was pretty compelling and interesting to kind of like what does this look like from the outside perspective some random strangers that aren't even probably from this area more or less right they are just here for the paranormal shit and they know what they know going in and how would they address the situation versus a regular guy and his sister, you know?

SPEAKER_02 43:58

100%. And I think the Other part of this that really stands out for me is the death we get in the river. Because okay, it's actually I'm gonna admit this as well, it's actually my favorite scene in the whole movie, and it's also because of the production design in this movie, but this one in particular felt like a little nod to the bullshit I love because we have all the tiny little puppets, all the tiny little versions of the marionette, and we have them in the water, and it felt like a rip off of piranha, and to finally have them all gathered together, and then the way that he falls into the water and then gets got, and then we see the flashlight in the water, we see the blood everywhere. It was just honestly for me a moment that felt like sheer camp, and I wanted more of that energy.

SPEAKER_01 44:58

Yeah, I can see how, at the very least, if you're gonna do this, make it camp and make it good.

SPEAKER_02 45:04

Absolutely, but I think that's also just such again a testament to how incredible the production is overall. The set design, it's immaculate, the animatronics are immaculate. When you have the legendary uh work of Jim Henson's legacy just working through this movie, you're not gonna get anything less than a stellar aesthetic. But for me, it was just the way this entire set came together. We obviously had the first location in the first movie, but to know that there's this little slice of history that is off the beaten path for our main characters in the original film, but this is where it actually started. I absolutely loved that approach, taking that in from the games. But for me, this place looked like a vibe. I would want to spend my birthday here. You know, that makes me think we just need to do Willie's Wonderland in January.

SPEAKER_00 46:01

Oh my, Willie's Wonderland. That sounds like a thing. I want to go back to this whole this whole setup with this crew that you've mentioned because that's three of our five kills, and that's kind of crazy that this blip in the movie has 60% of the kills of the movie, and it doesn't feel like earned, it also doesn't feel like correct. I think this scene should have felt more like the Red Wedding from Game of Thrones. It should have been so shocking. So Lisa should have been like drummed up a little bit more, you know, make her more important, make her more likable, make us think even more that she's gonna stick around. There was like a little bit of it where it's like, okay, she's obviously gonna be the survivor. These other two the other guys are getting taken out. No, they they're all gone. So, like, really, you know, amp it up a little bit, make us love this character, and then shock us if you're gonna get rid of all three and do it simultaneously.

SPEAKER_02 46:54

Yeah, I think my other problem with this is they're cowards. They should have committed. Either give us back Lisa, because apparently this music can shut off, and maybe she wasn't dead all long, maybe she's just unconscious, or commit to killing Abby. I know, controversial, but also she got got. Let her get got.

SPEAKER_00 47:13

That is true. Make it so that nobody's safe. That could be a thing that you do, especially as you're making more of these movies. You're gonna have to like let people move on with their lives at a certain point and get other gigs, so why not just take them out with a boldness?

SPEAKER_01 47:26

Listen, and I promise this actually will be the last time that we bring up Stranger Things. But much like Stranger Things, it seems like at times we're a little bit afraid of doing the hard thing, right? We're afraid of sticking to the consequences of our actions. And I feel like there would have been an opportunity to really surprise the audience to some capacity. And it's also just the potential of other kills that were on the table that would have been warranted. Those parents fucking suck. Sorry, but factual. And at least one of them should have gotten got, but they didn't. And that seems a little bit cheap. But that said, because now that I brought it up, and we were talking about also just the look of Freddy's, right? I want to talk a little bit about Charlotte slash Marionette. Because if I had to pick, I've got a few that are of production things that I really enjoyed. Location, set design, incredible. Newton Brothers doing the score again. They're a Mike Flanagan frequent collaborator. Of course, I'm gonna love the score. And I still to this day, as much as I didn't like the first movie, I still play that end credit song on full 10. Okay. That song fucking slaps. I mean, it's fantastic. Chica, she got a snatched waist, so much so that Megan Fox is now voicing her. All right. I'm here for all of it. I'm here for all of it. But what we need to talk about, and I'm so curious about your thoughts on, is Marionette. That villain right there, that character right there, I need Marionette in so many other ways outside of this franchise. I want a spinoff. I want this is a character that will um, if I really wasn't a FNAF, would unlock my crazy obsession. I this whole room would be Marionette. It's so sick. It's disgusting. I love the way that she looks. I think she's so cool. I will agree that the look of Marionette maybe on the people was a little bit silly for sure. But who is this Marionette and how do I get more of her? I need to immediately.

SPEAKER_02 49:38

Okay. So we'll go into a few things later offline, just to for the sake of not spoiling things. But we uh have Charlotte as a character. She is the daughter of someone significant, and in the original games, she is inadvertently killed, but she's more of like a protector. This is to my understanding. She is a protector of the spirits of the children who were put into the suits. It was interesting that they made her more of a villain because she was again trapped in this last moment of rage because she's not a malevolent spirit in the game. At least that's again my understanding. I could be missing the nuance of this, but that seemed like a very significant shift.

SPEAKER_01 50:27

Oh, that's pretty big. And I I have to say that's so interesting because I guess visually you look at Marionette, and I mean, she is scary. If that was creeping around the corner right behind me, I would be freaking out. At least me personally.

SPEAKER_00 50:42

It's weird though, because she just doesn't fit in. And I don't know how you guys feel about the look of the animatronics here. I kind of love that we got two different styles pitted against each other. And it's my understanding that this goes even further when it comes to the actual games, where there's all sorts of different versions of all of these characters, and that's fun. Plastic or metal or whatever they're made of, or the fuzzy ones, I think both looked great. And I don't know if it was practical, if it was CGI, whatever it was. I I kind of love the look that, except for Marionette. Did not enjoy the look of that character one bit. I wanted it to look more grounded, to look more like an animatronic instead of just looked like a floating ghost to me. And that was like meh, the look of the people's faces, like Chris mentioned earlier, also meh. But the other stuff, you know, all the bears and the foxes and all that looked awesome, whether it was shiny or or fuzzy.

SPEAKER_01 51:36

Well, it's interesting. And I think maybe I'm so enamored. It feels like I'm so obsessed with Marionette now because when I commit to looking at this movie as if it was my teenage or like my, you know, younger self watching it, right? Throwing on a Disney Channel movie like Don't Look Under the Bed, like that, Marionette specifically, like that would scare me deeply. It would freak me the fuck out. And now, as a little bit of an adult, reflecting on like, man, if I was younger, I would be really creeped out by this. I think that that's also why I found her introduction to be my favorite scene because it almost felt out of place. But the one thing that was out of place that impressed me because it was actually creepy, she felt like a snake almost. It reminded me a little bit of like No Face from Spirited Away, but in a very sinister way. Very curious, very like potentially fucked up, you know, like what the actions that character could potentially take. And then I, you know, unfortunately remembered, oh, that's right. This is a damn PG 13 movie. But I don't know, the look really just was intriguing for me. And I think that her introduction, the way that she slides out of that box was, you know, off-putting, but fun, and something that made me want to, if anything, watch the next movie just to see what more could come from that character. But that's really the extent of it.

SPEAKER_02 53:10

Okay, I'm glad we're talking about her because I have two qualms with not just her specifically, but rather two areas where I was like, eh, this demands an answer to these questions. So I know that we are expected to believe that there's just this amazing wireless signal that works in the 80s. I know. Let's suspend the disbelief. However, my true issue comes with you not only expecting me to buy that and to believe that, but for it to also be solo tech that it's just a little blipping red dot on a screen from the early 2000s that obviously was around since the 80s. And that also Mike can't seem to navigate a menu system quickly. What the hell was that? This whole scene where he's trying to disable the signal and the trackers and like shut everything down, and he's going back and forth between a having to put on a mask and things coming around. It felt like we're just being baited to get have a callback to the game. But there's no way that the action that he needed to take should have taken that long. And so it felt very disconnected.

SPEAKER_00 54:23

I I know that it did, but it was my favorite scene because it was so silly. I thought it was a moment of humor on purpose, and it was like it's very obvious. This feels like it's a shot from the game. It feels like, okay, everyone knows this, they had to do it, and you have to like balance going back and forth between clicking on buttons. It's probably not even in the game. Who knows? Somebody please tell us. But it just feels like that. That part was silly when he has to put the mask on to like stave stave off the animatronics showing up to kill him, and then they do it a couple of times. That to me was humorous, and that's why I liked it.

SPEAKER_02 54:58

Okay, but you know what? It's also the fact that he really told Vanessa, who knew what she was doing, to go out there and go find them, and that he would turn off the signal from here, and he just proceeded to click around a little bit. He actually took what felt like an eternity in like what must have been at least 40 minutes within the the movies in real-world time to figure out which desktop icon he wanted to fucking click. You know what I mean? It was just such an oddly paced moment, and sir, you could have resolved this had you just let Vanessa sit there and do it.

SPEAKER_01 55:38

Listen, okay, most definitely. But would Vanessa have actually done it, considering she's a little uh, you know, just stubborn and et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. I've got my qualms, I've got my thoughts and feelings. She's quite a fascinating person, but so is he. He's not safe. No one is in this movie, let's be very clear. My thing is, is that also correct me if I'm wrong, but if this is the 80s and this is Wi-Fi, isn't that like a landline thing? Couldn't someone have just picked up a phone and then that would have been done for? Because I remember that you couldn't be on the phone and Wi-Fi at the same time. Am I an idiot?

SPEAKER_02 56:16

But that's what I recall from my But we also didn't have wireless signal in the 80s.

SPEAKER_01 56:20

To begin with. Okay, great. But like, even if that was the case, like wireless and then you have landlines, but then you don't have like pick and choose the technology stack here because none of it makes sense. It's very clear that that was a scene that was supposed to emulate game mechanics because I know that that mask thing is from the game. I've at least seen those screenshots of those pictures. I can tell when you're trying to make it seem like there's tension when you're playing a video game, like you said, Mac, where you're like doing something, but then you have to keep looking up, keep looking up to see if someone's coming. He reiterates 5,000 times that there's no door. Okay, buddy, we get it. We know it's very clear. It was a very, very like funny and weird scene for sure. I think if you can, again, commit to your perspective of the movie and just accept that it's silly, then you're gonna have quite a time with that scene amongst many.

SPEAKER_02 57:16

And I feel like I just want to be very specific here. And Mac, I'm sure you can chime in on this. Obviously, this movie does not take place in the 80s apart from the beginning of the movie, but this restaurant, this location, the Marionette, has been shut down since the 80s. The uh technology for Wi-Fi wasn't approved until the late 90s. So I just want to be super specific. Now, if this movie is trying to imply that in the early 2000s this tech was retrofitted into the Marionette, but that's also just not the case because we have Michael Afton who says, Yeah, the tech was really way ahead of its time. Okay, all right, that that's it. All right, buddy.

SPEAKER_00 58:06

It really seemed like they didn't know how to write it away because they're like, well, how are they connecting to anything wirelessly without it just being ghosts? Let's just say they had future tech. It's such a cheap shot. It's like they do that in like spy movies where they're like, everything's gonna be realistic except for the technology, and we'll just say it's because they got the best, and that's what it felt like.

SPEAKER_02 58:26

At this point, just fucking set the movie in 2025 and pop an air tag in that thing.

SPEAKER_00 58:32

Good, good point. I mean, to set it like 25 years ago is weird for some reason because like you don't feel it when you're watching it, it just feels like a grungy town. It doesn't even feel like the year 2000 and whatever this year is 2001, two, or three. It just feels like a grungy town and nobody has cell phones, and then somebody takes out a cell phone and you're like, oh, that's right. This is set in the past. I forgot that.

SPEAKER_01 58:56

There was just so much. The time period felt so odd, that's for sure. But one thing that I will say was funny at the very least, or a scene that in particular that felt really funny and very MCU, if anything, was the battle of franchise locations. Okay, because when the when the OG animatronics were battling it out with the furrier, fuzzier animatronics from the first film, I thought this is like when your favorite local Starbucks has having it out with the news revamp Starbucks that's down the street. Okay. Who are you gonna go to now? What's it gonna be?

SPEAKER_02 59:34

Oh, I thought it was more like the Dundram Branch Wars. 100% have the same.

SPEAKER_01 59:39

Oh my God, that's incredible. Yes, absolutely. And what's even funnier is like you can't even let these kids go to rest. We spent a whole movie, a whole movie, about them going to pee going, you know, to heaven or just being at peace. Like, let's resolve this, but let's bring them back just once more to have it out with, you know, this new or OG location with brand spank and new animatronic looks, and then be gone with you again. It was that fight was also all of like five minutes.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:10

Yeah, I did think that their little moment of takedown was the best part of the ending for me. It's actually one of my favorite parts of the movie overall. And now that I've said my favorite part of the movie, I think I will do a worse part later. I can't wait to get into it. But I did mention that there was one other big question that really stood out for this movie for me, and that actually has to do with some of the characters, but why those adults specifically? Because I get the vibe, I get the idea. She is trapped in this moment of rage when she was shut out at the pizzeria, when nobody would listen to her. But the problem for me is that when we look into the future, so much has already happened in this movie that none of these faces look familiar to me. She was very specifically going to some specific adults, but they also didn't look like them. And then we had a younger adult that she was targeting, which feasibly could have been a grown-up kid who was talking shit about her in the pizzeria, but also that identity felt unclear. And I think maybe something that could have sold it for me would be if the adults seemed to recognize the animatronics that were in their homes.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:29

Yeah, that math didn't math, and I don't know if it's that the casting budget just wasn't there for that plot to follow through, but I definitely see what you're pointing out there, that's for sure. I want to talk just very briefly about Vanessa because it seems like maybe I will be on an island on this one. Vanessa's such an interesting character because you're the daughter of a serial killer. Suddenly, out of nowhere, you have a brother. But okay, I guess. Because by the look of those eyebrows, buddy, it was very apparent that you were creepy from the start. So I don't know if that was supposed to be some kind of crazy ass reveal, but it wasn't for me. I saw that from a mile away.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:15

So apparently in the game, he is not evil. His whole mission is to undo the evil that his father did.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:23

What? Well, first of all, when he said that his name was Michael, everyone in the theater lost their minds. Meanwhile, I'm thinking, so wait, are there two Michaels in this goddamn movie? That's stupid, personally.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:36

Yeah, yeah. And again, this is one of those things where, and listen, if you're listening to this episode and you're a big Five Nights at Freddy fan, please comment on this episode and give us the lore. You know so much that we can learn from you, but that is my understanding. So maybe it was surprising for them in the theater if he's not supposed to be this evil character.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:59

Then, oh, absolutely, that's exactly what it was, because everyone was losing their minds, and I'm just confused as how there's another Michael. But I couldn't agree more. I'm desperate to understand this franchise. I'm desperate, absolutely, because for me it's like, so Vanessa, is she really in the game for real? And what is her purpose then if she suddenly has a brother? And then the way that she's portrayed in this movie, though, seems like she just cannot be trusted, not at any point in time. And I understand that we're supposed to just empathize with the fact that her dad is a serial killer, seems to be have been very manipulative, obviously, extremely abusive to some capacity, obviously. I get that. And back to back, in almost the same breath, it was all of a sudden, okay, you have another best friend, or you have a best friend that also died. Didn't want to reveal that. There is an OG location of Freddie's, apparently down the block, close enough for you to bike there, but we didn't know that. Okay. And then you've got a brother who also seems to be a security guard at that location. There's a lot of things that happened all at once that were supposed to be revealed through Vanessa that made her credibility absolute garbage. So that when Mike, part one, by the way, so don't get confused. We've got Josh Hutcherson, when he says, stay away from me, everybody loses their mind in the theater again the second time around, like, oh, like, like, how could he do that to her? And I'm like, well, I mean, she did kind of lie nonstop.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:48

Oh my gosh. Okay, hold on. I feel like you are a victim of the Vanessa propaganda. You have fallen for an agenda. At least Oh no. Yeah, that's what it feels like for me. So let's run this back. Vanessa grew up in an abusive household with her serial killer father. What an insane way to grow up. Clearly, her brother is no better. Clearly, her brother is not well. So understandable that she would distance herself from them within a reason. Also, she met this guy in the last fucking movie. And not only that, she has revealed so much. She has gotten stabbed by her father. She has proven herself that she is to be trusted, that she is a good character, aligned with a bad family a hundred percent. But for me, doesn't seem to be this evil, manipulative person that's following in her. Father's footsteps. In addition to that, every time she reaches the subject or there's a moment to talk about things, Mike says what? I just want to move forward. I want us to move forward. Oh, you know, just fix your dreams. I'm trying to fix you. Fuck that. She has deeply traumatic shit that she has gone through that she is healing from. But I don't think she owes him anything. Because that is also a lot to share when you're processing all this. I don't like this movie. Vanessa is what I liked most about this movie.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:37

Oh gosh. Binks. I just both Chris and I, while you were speaking, were reacting so I mean, just so exaggeratively, because to imagine that she's a liar is seems crazy to me. He is the biggest jerk in this movie. He is an unlikable character. He's a big dumb idiot basically the entire movie. He's horribly mean to her the whole time. Even on their date, he's being a jerk to her. And for him to like basically go through all of this with her, get through all of this crazy trauma, even in just this film alone, and then to be like, no, I can't trust you. And it's like, what what did we just do? I'm pretty sure we just like saved the day together. Pretty sure you and I fought against a common cause, and he's like, nah, now get out of my life. Excuse me?

SPEAKER_02 1:07:23

Yeah, she just turned on her fucking brother to also defend them.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:29

But here's my problem. Here's my problem is that where did this brother even come from? You know what I'm trying to say? So that's the it's the it's in the writing, right? Like, I think that if there was a moment to kind of just comprehend a second to comprehend that she's had to deal, to your point, with both an abusive dad and then hiding the fact that she has a brother with a while all the while having to deal with the trauma of having lost the best friend, all of these things that she's unpacking in throughout the movie versus just like the last 20 minutes where all of this is revealed at once. I feel like it was just a lot of exposition for this character in just like a quick snap to basically explain why Marionette would even possess her to begin with. And I felt like that felt very cheap. Now, hold on, because what I want to make very clear is that Mike part one, okay, Josh Hutchison, to be clear, also is trash. And also is basically another person that's like the polar opposite of what they've done to Vanessa. Because I explicitly wrote down, you're telling me that all of the first movie, this guy has all this trauma about having lost his brother, he was kidnapped, never found out what happened to him, all of this guilt, et cetera. Suddenly you find out what happened to him, and in a click, you've trauma be gone. You're completely hunky-dory. Everything is great. You have no problems whatsoever. Let's move on. That sounds very ridiculous. That sounds a little like, okay, we are now forced as a viewer to move on from what the plot was of the first one in terms of this character. His character arc is done. We're gonna reset and make him the foil for Vanessa in terms of what she's going through. And it feels like there is no chemistry between the two of them. This could have been a, if we're trying to make this like a romance plot, subplot or chemistry between the two of them, it could have been the fact that they both have been through extreme, like fucked up shit together. Her definitely more than him, that's for sure. But they both have this trauma to unpack together. They've both saved the day together. They both care and have to go through all of these things together as a unit. But instead, it's just like, okay, now that we resolved his ghost, we're gonna reset him, make him the stereotypical piece of shit guy. And then we're going to basically make her look like she has all of the secretive baggage that she's suddenly revealing because, you know, we just feel like we need to explain a lot of the loopholes that are going on here and a lot of fan service that we need to provide in the last 20 minutes so that we can provide a cliffhanger at the end. And it seems very messy to me.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:24

And that is enough for you to feel like her character can't be trusted because it's clearly poor technical execution. Like that's my thing, right? Like this guy not being brought up or mentioned in the entire first movie does not inherently mean that she's not a character to be to be trusted because I think the execution and the way this movie comes together is proof of enough that it's just sloppy. That's the reality of this movie in particular. And what we see from her is someone who is battling so much internally, but who is still trying to do the right thing to help other people. That's objectively what we see on screen. So for me, it's never a question about where Vanessa's loyalty lies. And honestly, you fucking brought it up, Binks, and it actually just made me even more mad at Mike because fuck you for having all this bullshit in the first movie, and then deciding that because you've moved on, she needs to move on. When I'm sorry, dude, you didn't get stabbed by your dad. What the hell was that? Man, fuck this guy. He is the worst part of this movie a hundred percent. Not Josh Hutchinson's act acting, you know, our boy Josh, Peter Mullark, good for you. Love you, man. Fuck this character specifically. You're trash. I don't like you.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:47

I will agree that not just him, though. I think it's the way the relationships changed between the characters, between the first movie and this movie. He is completely neglectful of his younger sister, by the way. She says she's 11 and he's just like, cool, go do your own thing. I'm gonna go on that side of town and do whatever I want to do. So he's treating her like he doesn't care. He treats he treats effectively his could-be girlfriend with such suspicion. Whereas he's like one of those guys that's like after two dates, you didn't tell me you had an ex-boyfriend. It's like, bro, we don't really know each other. Like, what? That's how he's acting towards her, where it's like they've probably been out like a handful of times. The fact that he but he probably doesn't even know her middle name. And so for him to be like so reactive about this kind of stuff is ridiculous. But it feels like the writing for this came out of nowhere. The way that they they talk to each other is like, who did this?

SPEAKER_02 1:12:43

I 100% can guarantee he does not know the following. Her big three, her coffee order, her favorite collar, her favorite meal, I guarantee he doesn't know her third grade teacher's name, her mother's maiden name. All he has in common with her is this traumatic experience. And this movie is proof enough that when the credits roll and the sun goes down on some of our favorite would will they want their relationships in a horror movie, trauma is not enough to build a lifetime of love.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:20

Period. Because what is probably horrendous in terms of the writing for these characters is that if you want me to believe that in this next movie there is going to be some kind of like we need to save her because I love her, now you're offending me. Now you think I'm stupid. And listen, I've been through my fair share of traumatic relationships, that's for sure. But the way that he is written, let's be very clear, reminds me a lot of the common man, the common performative man that will do just what he needs to to take you out on the date and do what he must. But everything that you just rattled off, Chris, I'm I bet you that I could probably pull the streets. And most guys don't even know that about their like partners currently.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:10

Oh, for sure. So also I was waiting for him to call her a capital mutt because he definitely seemed like brainwash pita in that fucking moment.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:18

He was giving brainwash pita. And you know what? Here's the thing. Speaking of what I consider the best part, although it is Marionette for me and her design. I know maybe I'm just on an island here, that's okay. I think the look of the Marionette, super cool. I'm here for it. Great villain, but I guess not a villain. That's crazy. For me, it's having Josh Hutcherson back in the theater. I said this, I think, for the first movie as well. I love him dearly, and I just really need this resurgence of him back in the game, even if he's playing a horrendous character. But above that, what takes the spot here, most definitely, is Matthew Lillard and Skeet Ulrich back at it again. I despise that we only got them for 0.3 seconds individually, not even together. But at least I'm getting the press junkets, I'm getting them in the red carpet together. I just finished reading a book that goes over like all the behind-the-scenes things that happened with Scream and the entire franchise and just hearing them talk about each other and how everything went. Like, I love the two of them. We all do. So if this movie's what brings them together again on this big screen, so be it. But if they don't show up in a scene together in the next one, some way, somehow, I'm having it out.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:37

Would you like to know their relationship to each to each other? Tell me.

SPEAKER_01 1:15:42

He has to be important to some capacity because why the fuck would you introduce this guy anyways for a music box? Come on.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:47

They're the partners who started Fazbear's Pizzeria. What?

unknown 1:15:52

What?

SPEAKER_02 1:15:53

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 1:15:53

That wasn't obvious to you while watching this. As soon as he as soon as he showed up on screen and he's looking all scraggly, I was like, oh, he's been in on it since the beginning.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:03

Yep. So so wait. Oh my god, now I have so many more questions. Okay, that's fine. Everything's fine. That's some bullshit.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:11

Isn't is it fine? Is it fine? No. Yeah, I would agree with you that it is absolutely absurd that we didn't get more Billy and Stu together. The Scream fan in me really walked into this optimistic that their energy combined would make this better than it was. But the other sad part I have is the fact that he felt like he was overacting for his moment. Arboyski. He was just in a whole other level in this movie. And I'm not saying that he wasn't channeling a pain that was that felt real and relevant to the moment. It was very weird seeing him do it, and it felt a little bit above the moment.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:55

He was giving too much.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:56

Yeah, yeah. He really is tormented. So let's get more of him next time because apparently we're fucking doomed to watch more of these movies.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:03

Absolutely. I had a friend tell me, like, wait a minute, you're gonna go see that movie in theaters? And I said, I'm gonna do one better. I'm watching it a day early. I sure am. And I guess if the opportunity arises, I'll be doing it again. But this time, and I might have said this in the first film review, right? But hold me accountable, folks. Before the next one comes out, I need to at least read something. I will not walk into that damn theater again and look like a fool, not understanding what the fuck's going on.

SPEAKER_02 1:17:36

Okay. Don't worry, I got you covered because my crack team of investigators, meaning the children in my life, they're not children, one of them's an adult, the other two are teenagers. They provided me a link to a one-hour video that is the complete lore and timeline of things for five nights at Freddy's. Unfortunately, I got this link two minutes before walking into the theater, so I could not partake immediately beforehand, but that's okay. That's okay. Because I do know enough to know that we have some shit ahead of us moving forward. And I do look forward, in a sense, to seeing what else they can put out. Now, not because I want to actually watch the movies, but because it was very cute when I got to the theater. They had the popcorn bucket in the cup. I bought prematurely. I might give it away. We'll see. I hate buying merch for a movie I end up not liking. But they did give away the full-size posters, so that was cool. And at this AMC, they were making the pizzas and putting it in Fazbear's pizzeria boxes. How fucking cute is that?

SPEAKER_01 1:18:43

That's adorable.

SPEAKER_02 1:18:44

Yeah. Although one reason I'm not excited for an inevitable next movie is that there's actually a curse for me that Binks has helped me really understand. I am now sick. I am physically ill. And I was not physically ill before walking into that movie theater. But I was physically ill. And you can hear how sick I am in my voice. I was physically ill leaving. And when I rolled back the tapes, I was also physically ill the last time we reviewed Five Nights at Freddy's. So I feel like I might be hospitalized next time this shit comes around. I fucking hope not. But stay tuned, I guess.

SPEAKER_01 1:19:24

Listen, I don't want to trust. I I don't want to hear from any of you complaining if we don't end up doing a same-day release for the third one because it it's tough out here for her, okay? And we can't we can't run this risk.

SPEAKER_00 1:19:38

Look, this is like one of those franchises that is great to watch streaming. I this is a bias of mine. I really don't enjoy being in movie theaters anymore. I love being at home. I love the comfort of it, I love the safety of it. It's the best. But if I'm gonna go to a theater, you know, you gotta make it really worth it for me. In terms of a rewatch of this film, I don't know, in terms of continuing the franchise, sure. I'd prefer to do it the day it hits streaming. That would be more interesting to me. I think I would rather watch that video Chris talked about. Like to me, a good Wikipedia article explaining the plot with a link to all the characters, like I can just dive down that. That would be great.

SPEAKER_02 1:20:18

Well, I suppose we'll see what lies ahead for us, but for now that you have it, folks. Five Nights at Freddy's 2, 2025, the newly released sequel has earned two hacks and one slash. Now we've certainly had a robust discussion here, but the conversation about this movie and its nonsense doesn't end here by any means.

SPEAKER_00 1:20:39

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