Collegian Tree Gelbman wakes up in horror to learn that she's stuck in a
parallel universe. Her boyfriend Carter is now with someone else, and her
friends and fellow students seem to be completely different versions of
themselves. When Tree discovers that Carter's roommate has been altering time,
she finds herself once again the target of a masked killer. When the psychopath
starts to go after her inner circle, Tree soon realizes that she must die over
and over again to save everyone.
Director: Christopher Landon
Cast: Jessica Rothe , Israel
Release Date: February 13, 2019
Genres: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Rated PG-13 for violence, language, sexual material and thematic
elements.
Runtime: 1h 40 min
Review:
Happy Death Day was one of those rare surprises in the horror genre that
just come out of nowhere. It had a nice
twist on the slasher genre and a likeable lead that carried the film well. The sequel is sadly a bit of a downgrade in
quality, since it’s sapped of the original’s fun tone in favor of a more
convoluted and complicated story.
Christopher Landon switches up the first film’s trope by throwing in a
sci-fi slant that could have led to some fun situations if they’d explored the
concept a bit more than they do. Jessica
Rothe is still great in this entry, she’s such a fun actress who shows a
healthy bit of range, more so than in the first film. Sadly, her comedic talents aren’t used to
their fullest extent here and it’s to the film’s detriment since it never as
consistently fun as the previous film.
It’s a shame because you could see a healthy amount of possibilities in
the concept and Rothe within this series.
Sadly, the sequel just ends up coming off as a pale imitation of the
first film with far less pop and energy.
C+
