The Five Nights at Freddy’s movie was a long awaited addition to the wildly popular FNAF video game franchise. After 8 years of delays ranging from crew changes to MANY scripts being trashed, it’s finally accumulated to what the people have long waited for.
As a person who is scared of his own shadow, I was alarmed at just the thought of walking into the theater knowing what I’d be watching soon, but after having watched the movie, I can’t recommend it enough. Now it’s time for the SPOILER ALERT! To write a review I have to address all aspects so if you’re going to watch it at any time, I’d recommend sitting this one out. Anyways, let’s review!
The opening scene to the movie was when I almost tapped out. It’s a spooky mood setter showing what really happens at a random pizzeria after dark, with the Night Guards’ shift being “cut early.” We then meet our protagonist Mike, played by Josh Hutchinson. In my opinion, he is the right man for the job and plays the part well, offering good acting and portraying the character’s desperation very well. His counterpart, Piper Rubio, has the role of playing Mike’s little niece, Abby. Abby’s role is played decently well but not as good as her fellow actors: it comes off as cringey and unappreciated as it seems that there was potentially a need for better writing. Overall, the two main characters are played fairly well by the main actors.
The main story revolves around the fact that Mike is attempting to provide a living for his niece Abby. He is forced to pick up a job at a rundown pizzeria that’s prone to break-ins; he takes it for the pay and then has a fairly normal night, but he is met with a recurring dream.
This leads to my next point some things in this movie feel forced and not really needed. The subplot is that Mike’s younger brother, Garret, was kidnapped at a young age on Mike’s watch, which haunts Mike to this day through his dreams. According to the games, which is what this whole movie is based on, it’s just a string of five child murders that lead to the haunted animatronics killing the nightguards. Crazy, I know–but to have a new kid in the movie unrelated to the original story just to tie the main character back into the movie seems too forced for me.
As the movie progresses, we see that Mike’s aunt wants custody of Abby and is willing to do anything to make sure that happens. She recruits people to break into Freddy’s and ruin the place. During the heist, the animatronics come to life and make sure the attackers don’t leave alive. This scene shows the true violent nature of the creatures; it is what the fans have been wanting to see and in my opinion is a great scene that encompasses the essence of the games with tension.
Time passes and we learn of a local police officer Vanessa (MY LEAST FAVORITE CHARACTER!) I think her acting is very subpar and the character as a whole feels unneeded. Fast forwarding, we see that she’s in fact the main villain’s daughter which honestly doesn’t add much to that plot either. In my opinion, the movie would be better off with her out of it. The actor is fine but in my opinion was dealt a bad script. I believe it’s another scenario where the filmmakers attempt to force a plotline that’s not necessary.
Then comes a part of the movie where I–and I’m sure many other fans–were left confused. A scene that showed that these haunted fur suits–who we’ve come to love to see attack random people–become…friendly? I kid you not, the scene of them building a practical pillow fort had me lost and at this point, I was doubting how legitimate they wanted this movie to be. The following 45 minutes of the movie are essentially lost in my opinion seeing as they are not important to the film at all, and I consider them to be the weakest part of the movie. Though it’s not done yet. The film reveals that the reason for all the friendliness is that the animatronics were attempting to kidnap Abby and “make her one of them,” for lack of better terms.
The ending shows Mike attempting–and successfully–saving Abby from these creatures, at which point it is revealed that Mike’s employer, William, is behind all this and is the very reason these animatronics are walking around. Since it essentially takes a PhD to even begin to comprehend how this all works, I’ll spare trying to make sense of it . What needs to be said is that William faces the wrath of the animatronics and feels the true nature of an animatronic suit.
And that’s the movie. If you’ve been a fan since the beginning and have followed all the games as closely as possible, then honestly this movie might be a tad of a letdown because it does stray a little from the original game plot; but, to a casual viewer just looking for a spooky movie, it sorta does the trick. Overall, I enjoyed the movie and recommend it to whoever is looking for a fair movie. I’d give it a 6-7/10 and think it’s great for a spooky watch.
