Directed by:
Christopher LandonScreenplay:
Christopher LandonCinematography:
Toby OliverComposer:
Bear McCrearyCast:
Jessica Rothe, Israel Broussard, Suraj Sharma, Phi Vu, Sarah Yarkin, Ruby Modine, Rachel Matthews, Steve Zissis, Charles Aitken, Missy Yager, Laura Clifton (more)VOD (3)
Plots(1)
Jessica Rothe leads the returning cast of Happy Death Day 2U, the follow-up to Blumhouse’s (Split, Get Out,) surprise 2017 smash hit of riveting, repeating twists and comic turns. This time, our hero Tree (Rothe) discovers that dying over and over was surprisingly easier than the dangers that lie ahead. (Universal Pictures International (UPI))
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Reviews (8)
Landon surprises, and very smartly at that. In the first movie, he presented a fresh premise that relied on the effectiveness of the detective line and the reveal of the identity of the murderer, which was key to the resolution of the spiral of the story. In the sequel, he tries to retroactively explain the origin of the time loop, with the goals of the characters already revealed beforehand, and the viewer doesn’t need to tensely search for the “unknown” (in the mathematical sense) together with them, but through the reinforced principle of deadlines and, to some extent, the butterfly effect, too. And he really pulls it off at least in the first two acts. The events unfold in an unpredictable and entertaining way, the reveal of new differences in that one and the same day is gratifying and the titular dilemma that arises from the dying Tree is a strong enough element to deepen her relationship with Carter and to think about the entire plot in a broader context than would be necessary. This is no longer a slasher, the dominant line of the first part plays a very secondary role, but the narrative mode was still a lot of fun, and that’s why the last half hour bothered me so much: it delays the inevitable resolution only because it has to, and most of the scenes with the dean are just cheap and cringe-worthy. If it was 10 minutes shorter and the events got more straightforward as they approached the finish line, I would have been thrilled despite all the questionable logic, as it is, though, it barely gets to 70% with the mandatory praise to the again flawless Jessica Rothe, who could easily play a female version of The Last Boy Scout or Kate Winslet’s character in Titanic. Give this woman a blockbuster now!
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The creators stepped into the same river for the second time (which wasn’t a problem thanks to a time loop) and I thought I knew exactly what to expect of the film this time, but the opposite was true. Based on my experience with the first installment, I knew it definitely wouldn’t be a horror film, so I expected another student comedy with traces of romance. Instead, I stared in disbelief at this weird film with a blonde Asian playing Jar Jar Binks. About halfway through, I actually started having fun (especially the suicides were inventive), but then came the last third which brought a lot of annoying moralizing and lame melodrama, which caused a sharp decline in my mood and a corresponding rating.
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Tree is in a time loop again and someone is after her. When she dies, she wakes up again and gets a second chance, but this time it's more complicated, because she's in a world where the rules are a little different. Happy Death Day 2U deserves praise for not just being a classic sequel, but for trying to inject more sci-fi or dramatic elements into the story. Sadly, the problem is the execution. Christopher Landon may have had enough ideas, but as a director he doesn't have the chops to mix them into an entertaining film.
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Christopher Landon and sexy Jessica Rothe are back together in a time loop, but this time it's much more complicated. The effect of the first film is sadly gone, and the lack of gore hurts the sequel, as there was a lot of potential to spawn a new slasher series in the vein of Scream, but that's not going to happen. The second film made twice as much as the first and we probably won't see a third. Fortunately, the film is still entertaining, Jessica Rothe is fun (the suicide scene a clear highlight), the supporting characters are likable, Baby Face appears a little less than in the first installment, and the final twist is again surprising, though not as shocking as the first. Creative, entertaining and at times nicely suspenseful, and as a horror film for youngsters, it's enough. 65%
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What the fuck, just shoot yourself right now. If the plot itself is trying to transfer the heroine's fluster at finding herself day after day in a horribly lit world full of completely inept, unfunny assholes (the Dean!) who constantly have to drink, eat, and spout utterly terrible nonsense while doing so, my applause couldn't be slower. It's not, of course, because we're just talking about a morbidly stupid pretense of fun that's shot like a sitcom for people who find Big Bang Theory funny. For example, three-quarters of the film is medium close-ups on faces in such narrow focus that if the actor moved his head back 5cm he'd become a fuzzy pink flush. It's painfully unentertaining, overacted, unfunny, and off-kilter even in terms of its internal universe. The Czech title ("All the Worst") is also a review.
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