Happy Death Day 2U Reviews

Found myself enjoying the first 'Happy Death Day' quite a bit, though it did have its flaws. It had a very interesting concept which it made the most of but could have done even more with it. This sequel when hearing of it intrigued me with what it would do with its concept and it looked pretty cool but part of me felt nervous, questioning its neccesity, how it would hold its own, whether it would do anything new or be too much more of the same.

'Happy Death Day 2 U' to me was a watchable sequel that doesn't exactly disgrace the first film, while with room for quite a fair bit of improvement. It is not too more of the same and tries to build upon what we saw before, but also could have been fresher and not tried too hard in the story execution. It is not amateurish, is appealingly played and has enough amusement and atmosphere, at the same time it is not near as focused as the previous film.

Will start with the good. The photography is stylish rather than slapdash, the editing has suitably unnerving moments and the lighting is atmospheric. Christopher Landon never lets it get too heavy while not diluting the fun or scares, and the at times haunting and at others times funky soundtrack adds a lot.

There is a lot of humour, more so than scares actually, and again generally it's knowing and firmly tongue in cheek. There could have been more scares and suspense but when they were there there was some creepiness, or so to me. The acting is solid, but Jessica Rothe is great and one of the main reasons to see 'Happy Death Day 2 U'. The character chemistry is appealing and not forced.

As aforementioned however, although seldom dull the story was much more focused before and slicker. The second half especially, thought the film started off great actually and held my attention, tries to do too much and can get over-complicated. The time dimensions stuff, focused on a little too heavily, could have had more clarity. Neither the comedy or horror feel as fresh. Some staleness in some of the gags and as said the scares and suspense are not enough.

Despite the solid acting, the character writing is superficial. It was in the previous film too but before it felt more self-aware and acknowledgable of that, didn't get as much of that sense here. 'Happy Death Day 2 U' does get increasingly silly in the plotting on top of lack of sense and logic towards the killer reveal. Once again the killer reveal underwhelms, hugely underdeveloped, rushed and confusingly head-scratching.

In conclusion, enjoyed the first but this sequel left me conflicted. 5/10