When I was walking into the theatre room with my close friends to see “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2” for the first time, I had just one hope and prayer: for the film to be just a little bit better than the first. And boy, were those expectations shattered in the best ways possible. “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2” (or “FNaF 2”) was overall a really fun and tense movie that succeeded in satisfying a lot of my expectations of what we wanted to see, with a myriad of jumpscares, story that deepened the universe and a little bit of Easter eggs sprinkled along the way. My only disappointment was that in trying to set themselves up for the third installment of the series, they sort of lost themselves in pacing and left a lot of us confused and wishing there was more.

“FNaF 2” takes place a year after the events of the first installment in the franchise. In case you haven’t ever played the games, seen any theories, or even watched the first movie, the basic premise and “lore” of the franchise involves a series of murders at a children’s pizzeria by a man named William Afton (Matthew Lilliard), one of the owners of the restaurant. The bodies were then hidden in the pizzeria’s animatronic suits, which the kids began to possess. In the first movie, Mike Smidt (Josh Hutcherson), a person affected by the killings as his own brother was killed by Afton, unravels these mysteries with the help of Vanessa (Elizabeth Lail), an officer and daughter of the serial killer. You’ll need to look into the story a little yourself, since it’s a lot more complicated than what I mentioned. “FNaF 2” returns with the original characters, this time with a focus on Charlotte Emily (Audrey Lynn-Marie), Afton’s first victim, her possession of the Puppet (also known as the Marionette), and how she seeks revenge from the parents who neglected her cries for help when she needed it most. The film also has a focus on a second location that existed before the pizzeria we saw in the first movie, and brings in several new enemies, from the flashy toy animatronics, to the withered prototypes to the Marionette herself.

Perhaps the best thing about “FNaF 2” was the worldbuilding and atmosphere, especially in the first half of the movie. The music, ambience and stingers were composed and executed very well. The setting was brilliant, with the pizzeria capturing the uncanny feel of both children’s restaurants from the 80s and the settings from the original games. Also, as was expected, the animatronics themselves were stunning, somehow being able to adapt them to the big screen while still staying true to its source. One of the greatest implementations of all the elements listed was during the office scene, where Smidt survives the old pizzeria location trying to locate the rogue toy animatronics and fending off the withered animatronics (and Balloon Boy, but he was quickly dealt with). This, along with the occasional transition to Vanessa’s horrifying battle with the Mangle in the van, really highlighted the strengths of the movie, the cast and just how intricate they were with how they dealt with building the environment.

This point might be a bit controversial, but I thought the plot was also a big part of what I liked about “FNaF 2”. Sure, you had a lot of moments in the second half of the film that were rushed, and sometimes downright confusing, but other than that, there really seemed to be no issues for me whatsoever. In fact, I had a lot of questions answered from that film, and for those who are familiar with the FNaF universe already, the bits of lore and the several references and Easter eggs added were a pleasant surprise that only elevated the plot overall. The opening scene might have been one of the most haunting and beautiful moments in the horror genre, perfectly encapsulating the tragedy of the death of Charlotte while at the same time introducing the main antagonist of the film. Although I will acknowledge that the parents ignoring her cries for help might have been less believable than it should have been. This, along with several other scenes such as Vanessa’s dream sequence or the conversation between Smidt and Henry Emily, Charlotte’s father, reflect the periods of brilliance where the movie really flexed its muscles in the “storytelling” aspect.

Of course, all that doesn’t excuse some of the grave mistakes made by the movie. All problems seemed to arise from the fact that the film was simply stuck in a sort of common syndrome in trilogies where the second movie is just a setup for the third. This also goes hand-in-hand with the movie’s pacing, script and missed opportunities. While the first half had minimal issues, the second half became a confusing and awfully rushed series of events, from some scenes being dragged out and unnecessary to others only lasting thirty seconds and never being mentioned again. There is some sentiment from among the critics over some certain “gimmicks” in the film, like Smidt using a Freddy mask to hide behind the animatronics, being out of place or perplexing. I would argue, however, that this isn’t much of a problem since some basic understanding of the games would have cleared the confusion. Moreover, there seemed to be an excessive focus on some animatronics and characters, such as the toy animatronics, while almost entirely ignoring some other characters that a lot of us wished there was more of, such as the Withereds, who only got five minutes of screen time, and Henry, who was only there for one scene.

All of this is on display at one of the most problematic scenes of “FNaF 2”: the cliffhanger ending. I was genuinely shocked when I saw the credits roll all of a sudden, thinking that there was a good thirty minutes of the movie left. The scenes preceding this were already so rushed and had minimal explanation, but this? This was almost inexcusable.

With all that said, it’s quite hard to give this movie a specific rating. While I loved it as a fan, I can’t say the same for others who might watch it. If you’re already familiar with the games and just want to watch something fun, then this movie ticks all those boxes. All in all, I really hope that when the third movie rolls around, it builds on “FNaF 2” by fixing its flaws and wrapping up the series nicely.