Happy Death Day 2U

“Death makes a killer comeback.”

Filmology Rating: 1.67 out of 4

Happy Death Day 2U the sequel to one of my earliest reviews ever. This was written and directed by Christopher Landon and has all of the same cast returning once again.

Due to a scientific experiment gone horribly wrong, Tree (Jessica Rothe) finds herself back in the death loop. She must figure out how to return back to her old life.

That may sound like a re-tread of the first film, however, I was quite surprised by the direction this film took. This is not a horror film. The first one could be described as such, but this film is absolutely not a horror film. It has horror aspects, but it aimed for the comedic/sci-fi route.

The main issue with the film is that it feels overly complicated for what it is. The first one was charmingly simple. It was Groundhog Day, but done in a horror twist. This film is like a mash up of six different films and got too far into science jargon which made it a borderline Chris Nolan film. It feels like the film is trying way to hard to be funny. I laughed seven times, so it was successful at being funny, but it was certainly trying very hard to be funny.

The film also stretches its hand into sentimentality. It works well with one relationship that Tree has, but there were other sentimental moments that felt as if Landon was forcing me to feel something. Jessica Rothe is fantastic. At first, it looked like the film was shifting perspectives, but I am glad they returned to Tree because the moment she arrived on screen, she lit the frame up. This is a very physical role and she does it great.

Being a film about re-living the same day, the structure got very quirky near the middle/end. It felt like it was ending at several moments, but it kept going. With the film getting overly complicated into some aspects of science, there is a student who builds what I identified immediately as the mcguffin. There is no way that kid made that machine. The film is just too complicated in its plotting.

There is too much of a clash of genre here and very little horror, however, I was entertained the entire time and actually enjoyed myself. I appreciate the film for swinging for the fences and it's a great Valentines movie.

Rating: Rent It

-Nolan