Monday, March 01, 2021

My Review of Happy Death Day 2U (2019)

 

Written by Christopher Landon And Scott Lobdell
Directed by Christopher Landon

Ryan: "You sure you want to go back?"
Tree: "Can't spend my life living in the past. Gotta take a leap of faith."

It was only a few months ago that I watched the first movie and I have been meaning to catch up with this sequel. Like most sequels, there's a sense of not being as good as the first one but for me, personally, I think this actually is on a par with the first one.

At first you're lead to believe that it's actually Carter's (Israel Broussard) roommate Ryan (Phi Vu) who will lead the movie as the first few minutes see him fall victim to the same loop that got Tree (Jessica Rothe) last time as he relives the same day, only for another version of himself gets revealed as the killer and things get more confusing.

It seems Ryan and his friends - Samar (Surah Sharma) and Andrea (Sarah Yarkin) are responsible for inventing a machine nicknamed Sissy that has opened up parallel dimensions and low and behold, the story then shifts from Ryan back to Tree who finds herself not only reliving her murderous birthday but she's reliving it in a different dimension.

Yup, it's a dimension where Carter is dating Danielle (Rachel Matthews), Lori (Ruby Modine) isn't a killer, Tree never had an affair with Gregory (Charles Aitken) and Tree's mother (Missy Yager) is also alive. Needless to say, this puts Tree in a tricky position as she keeps killing herself to figure out the right way to get back to her own world all the while falling in love with Carter all over again.

There's amusement to be had in Tree's various methods of bumping herself off while the movie deals with the emotional conflict of the life she could have if she remained in the other universe. It's amusing, clever and heartfelt stuff in places.

The only real let down is that Gregory and his wife as a murdering duo, rehashing Lori's old playbook isn't as compelling this time around and too often feels like the weakest element of the entire film. There's also Dean Bronson (Steve Zissis), who constantly seems to be screwing up Tree's initial attempts to fix the problem but there's something delightful in the way Danielle is used to foil him during a crucial moment. I also have to give this movie points for giving Tree a gang instead of just trying to solve the problem with only Carter, which made for a good change of tack.

- While this may be the horror version of Groundhog Day, I'm not surprised they got a Back To The Future reference in there. Tree might want to watch that trilogy for next time.
- The idea of Stephanie as a killer was originally going to happen in the first movie.
- Standout music: Paramore's Hard Times during Tree's various deaths moments.
- Chronology: September 19th to begin with, then September 18th, before going back to September 19th.

Happy Death Day 2U surprisingly delivers big time on the sequel front. The time travels are still rather strong, though this movie pushes the sci-fi elements harder than the original but a part of me does think the upcoming third movie might be where this particular franchise should bow out as well. Still though, I enjoyed this as much as the first movie.

Rating: 8 out of 10

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