Growing up in an interchangeable world, death has always been a common norm in everyday life, whether from watching television, listening to the public radio or receiving important messages of a well-renowned celebrity that passed away. On the other hand, death in essence to film is a far different matter. In seeing “Happy Death Day 2 U,” my mind and laugh box went to a whole new level. Spoiler alert: those that did not see “Happy Death Day 2 U” should probably see “Happy Death Day.” Many of the scenes shown in the film are from the previous movie.
Anyway, upon watching the second film, my reaction was as followed: “Wow, this horror movie experience sure feels like sci-fi.” Indeed, the film as a whole does not have any nuance of horror, but rather, it blends comedy and sci-fi with horror. Thus, this film had become a whole new genre.
Tree Gelbman, played by Jessica Roche, has to solve her death once again, but this time, has to fix the time continuum that Ryan Phan, played by Phi Vu, has accidently created. Wait a minute, stop here for a minute. Is this movie similar to “Back to the Future”? The answer is no, since there is no DeLorean to use, and the setting does not take place back in the 1950s or the decadent 1980s; however, there is indeed an experiment used in the film that distorted time.
Though the second film does pay homage to the first, some of the scenes were a bit redundant and repeated from its predecessor. For example, Roche’s character frequently dies in order to gather the right amount of data to revert time. This is similar to the first movie in which she kills herself in order to narrow out who was the main villain. In my opinion, having a name like “Tree” would suggest to a moviegoer that trees could grow back after they are cut.
I give director Christopher Landon one thumbs up in selecting another victim at the film’s beginning, but a thumbs down in selecting the previous heroine to die frequently. Rest assured, the film does make up for it in the way that Roche’s character dies and the special effects that come with it.
For comedy horror fans, sci-fi in a horror comedy was actually done before. One clear example of time travel that has pure comedy is Sam Raimi’s “Army of Darkness.” If I had to say something about “Happy Death Day 2 U,” it would be that the film was intending to go for a B-rating which was truly accomplished through its violence and humor.
At the end of the movie, there was some possibility of a third movie which was implied by the last film clip. By the time the movie was over, I felt mixed about the film’s sense of direction. For a moviegoer that wants comedy, sci-fi and horror messed up into one glorious genre, “Happy Death Day 2 U” does live up to its hype, despite its turndowns of reusing the same plot and the same main character.
Nicholas Bartelmo is a third-year student majoring in history. NB790429@wcupa.edu