Announced way back in 2015, the Five Nights at Freddy’s (FNaF) movie has had more than enough time to build excitement. It has gone through nearly a decade of delays, and in the meantime, the once indie game has turned into a full on franchise. While the delays were disappointing, the added storyline to the game is good for the movie, and eight years after its announcement, the movie was officially released into theaters on October 27.
The movie features Josh Hutcherson as the main character, Mike Schmidt, and Matthew Lillard as the main antagonist, William Afton, who is disguised under a fake name. Other characters include Elizabeth Lail as Vanessa Monroe, a police officer who knows a suspicious amount of information about Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, and Piper Rubio as Mike’s kid sister, Abby.
The actors put on a good performance for a movie with a moderate budget of only 25 million in a time where movie budgets exceed the hundred-million mark. Some of the acting in the more emotion-evoking scenes was slightly sub-par, but for the most part, it was solid. The movie’s plot added to its perceived mediocrity, being largely predictable before the climax of the film.
Major criticisms of this movie were that the plot got lost in trying to make the movie scary and vice versa, and that viewers who are not familiar with the game are confused and overall displeased with the showing. Some of these criticisms are valid; the intention to make the movie scary did at some points overshadow the plot, and likewise, the plot at several times overshadowed the inherent horror of the terribly tall animatronics. Remember though, that this movie was always intended to be for fans of the game, and not so much for the “general public”.
The attempt at giving Mike, the pizzeria security guard and main character, severe childhood trauma and also extreme stress about taking care of his young sister did detract from the desired horror of the animatronics. It added to the plot, but also watered it down. In the now world renowned game, simply titled Five Nights at Freddy’s, the animatronics have blank, expressionless faces with gaping white eyes, giving them an intensely uncanny look. This mostly carries over to the movies, but instead their eyes glow red, disappointing many hearty fans of the game. Furthermore, the heart-wrenching, and utterly horrifying lore of the games is almost completely nonexistent in the film, and instead is replaced by almost all-new characters and a far-removed storyline.
What made the games so famous is the animatronics themselves, who only move while the player is not looking. The player is confined to a small dingy office, whereas in the movie, Mike is free to walk around, and his sister Abby blatantly interacts with and talks to the robots, furthering the disconnect between the movie and dedicated fans of the game. Alienating the fans, while also making the film indigestible to the general public, definitely was not the way to go.
Many also claim that the movie is not scary enough, or at least not in comparison to the games. This point is highly defensible, although the movie is supposed to be seen by young audiences, so the horror could not have been too potent. Still, the point remains that the movie is disappointing in its effort to mimic the style of the games. There are several moments with potential to terrify the audience with jumpscares and gore, but ultimately never happen. On a multitude of occasions, a character is killed in what would have been a gory way, but the audience never sees more than a hint of it. Again, the film cannot contain that much to maintain its PG-13 rating, but a little would have gone a long way with the fanbase.
Overall, the movie was decent for fans, and just okay for everybody else. It seems to have displeased both parties by trying to stay impartial to either, but it still remains an “I might watch it again” tier film.
