Happy Death Day 2U

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Following the events of the first film, Tree (played again by Jessica Rothe) seems to have finally gotten a normal life and is now in a relationship with Carter (played again by Israel Broussard). But, her life goes right back into chaos when Carter’s roommate Ryan finds himself stuck in a time loop of his own. That’s really just scratching the surface because things kind of get bigger and weirder from there. The first film was clearly a slasher movie with a comedic Groundhog Day-style edge to it. The genre of this film honestly feels a little harder to classify—and that’s something I weirdly appreciate. Don’t get me wrong, a lot of the first film’s elements are still there. I just happen to think this film pushes its genre concepts further than the first film did. Much like the first movie, Jessica Rothe really feels like she is this film’s heart and soul. There’s a lot she has to work with, and she makes all of it work. She has great comedic timing, and she really gets a chance to shine with her dramatic chops. A lot of the comedy carries a darker tone—something that really works with the slasher angle these movies like to take. If I’m being honest, a lot of the movie’s comedy really worked for me, especially a couple of the deaths (which I don’t want to spoil in my review). This is a movie that I’m happy wasn’t completely ruined by the trailer. The trailers gave me some kind of idea of what to expect, but they didn’t give away any of the really important plot points, or any of the twists in the film for that matter. As much I as legitimately loved this movie, and really had a blast with it, I can’t say that it was perfect. The movie doesn’t make it clear exactly how long after the first film this movie takes place. Sometimes, it seems like it starts the next day. Other times, it seems like it’s a couple of days later. My personal feelings on when this movie should take place notwithstanding, I think some of the writing could have been tweaked to make this a little clearer, and little bit more noticeable. There’s a couple of new characters introduced in this film, and I think they could have been stronger. They are there to help Tree. The problem is that I can’t even remember what their names are. That’s the kind of impact they left on me. But, I have to say, after two pretty damn entertaining movies, I’m kind of OK with Happy Death Day continuing on as a horror franchise.

8 / 10