As a certifiably “weird kid” in middle school, I was incredibly excited when I found out about the Five Nights at Freddy’s (FNAF) movie. I knew all of the lore, watched the game playthroughs, and even had some merch. I loved it. While I like to think that I’m a little cooler now than I was back then, I am still a FNAF fan at heart. Therefore, it was hard not to compare what I already knew about the franchise to the movie. While there are some major differences between the lore of the games and the movie, in my opinion, the movie did not fall short of being great.
First and foremost, while the lore of the games didn’t line up exactly with the movie, there were many Easter eggs that long-time fans noticed. My personal favorite was MatPat’s surprise appearance. But other than that, there were many hints about the Aftons, small Easter eggs from the first game, and many names used from the official lore. During many of these callbacks to the games, the entire theater erupted in applause and gasps. There was just enough lore weaved in for it to be satisfying for fans. Though the storyline of the movie didn’t exactly line up with the games, I don’t think it had to. It did what it needed to do, which was be entertaining.
I was seriously impressed with the entertainment value of the movie. It wasn’t incredibly scary, which I expected it to be, but it still held my attention. It seems that a staple of FNAF is terrifying jump scares. They were the whole reason I never played the game myself; I liked to hide from the jump scares in the YouTube comments. So, I cuddled up close to my best friends expecting to have to hide my eyes from the movie a good number of times.
However, the scariest thing in the movie was the occasional Balloon Boy jump scare, and he didn’t even do any of the killings. I don’t think the lack of horror was of any disservice to the movie. Instead, it focused on building relationships between the main villain, the protagonist(s), and the animatronics. Where the games may fall short in storytelling (relying mostly on abstract cutscenes), the movie is much more played out. You’re not left theorizing about exactly what happened; instead, the story is clear.
Also, for all my girlies who love The Hunger Games, Josh Hutcherson did an incredible job. Not only did he have an excellent on-screen performance, but he also reminded me of why I had such a big crush on Peeta as a kid. But seriously, Hutcherson’s acting was phenomenal. I felt like he really was the night guard at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria.
All of the actors did an incredible job. I think it could’ve been easy to make a complete joke of the movie and cast some lackluster actors, but there were many recognizable faces and names. I think the creators had some self-awareness and didn’t take themselves too seriously. The movie was quite funny (cut to Freddy riding in a taxi with a little girl), yet they still were careful to use the casting as a tool to not make a total joke of it all. Overall, the performances of the actors far exceeded my expectations.
If you were a fan of FNAF in your younger years or are still a fan to this day, I definitely recommend going to see the movie. It reignited my excitement about the fandom. Fortunately, we’ve made it past those middle school years when everyone’s judgment of what you liked mattered. There was no one type of person watching the movie. Though it wasn’t exactly like the games, it brought a lot of people together: ex-fans, current fans, and people who hardly know what FNAF is. So, if you’ve been thinking about going to see the movie, go give it a watch. It’s entertaining no matter who you are.
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