Happy Death Day 2U

Landon surprises, and very smartly at that. In the first movie, he presented a fresh premise that relied on the effectiveness of the detective line and the reveal of the identity of the murderer, which was key to the resolution of the spiral of the story. In the sequel, he tries to retroactively explain the origin of the time loop, with the goals of the characters already revealed beforehand, and the viewer doesn’t need to tensely search for the “unknown” (in the mathematical sense) together with them, but through the reinforced principle of deadlines and, to some extent, the butterfly effect, too. And he really pulls it off at least in the first two acts. The events unfold in an unpredictable and entertaining way, the reveal of new differences in that one and the same day is gratifying and the titular dilemma that arises from the dying Tree is a strong enough element to deepen her relationship with Carter and to think about the entire plot in a broader context than would be necessary. This is no longer a slasher, the dominant line of the first part plays a very secondary role, but the narrative mode was still a lot of fun, and that’s why the last half hour bothered me so much: it delays the inevitable resolution only because it has to, and most of the scenes with the dean are just cheap and cringe-worthy. If it was 10 minutes shorter and the events got more straightforward as they approached the finish line, I would have been thrilled despite all the questionable logic, as it is, though, it barely gets to 70% with the mandatory praise to the again flawless Jessica Rothe, who could easily play a female version of The Last Boy Scout or Kate Winslet’s character in Titanic. Give this woman a blockbuster now! (07/03/2019)

The second encounter with Tree, who once again finds herself in a time loop in which she keeps dying, is more daring script-wise than the first installment, which has both its advantages and disadvantages. The beginning of the film is a bit awkward, but then the merry-go-round of suicides in search of the truth kicks in and the plot picks up. I liked that they didn't mechanically copy the first film and tried to go a little further, though at times it may have been a little over the lineit. The identity of Baby Face and his motivations weren't as shocking as in the first one, but that is compensated by the many black-humored moments. I didn't even mind that they played on emotions at times ("what if"). It's also worth waiting for the post-credit scene. (06/03/2019)

The creators stepped into the same river for the second time (which wasn’t a problem thanks to a time loop) and I thought I knew exactly what to expect of the film this time, but the opposite was true. Based on my experience with the first installment, I knew it definitely wouldn’t be a horror film, so I expected another student comedy with traces of romance. Instead, I stared in disbelief at this weird film with a blonde Asian playing Jar Jar Binks. About halfway through, I actually started having fun (especially the suicides were inventive), but then came the last third which brought a lot of annoying moralizing and lame melodrama, which caused a sharp decline in my mood and a corresponding rating. (07/08/2019)

Even though I find elements in the American film Happy Death Day 2U that bother me, especially the exaggerated sci-fi and the unnecessary explanations, even the second time around it is a film I had fun with and enjoyed watching. The slasher is in the background, but it doesn't matter, because this is a film that doesn't get boring and, a bit surprisingly, it turns out that basically, the same thing can be good even the second time around. (29/05/2019)

Tree is in a time loop again and someone is after her. When she dies, she wakes up again and gets a second chance, but this time it's more complicated, because she's in a world where the rules are a little different. Happy Death Day 2U deserves praise for not just being a classic sequel, but for trying to inject more sci-fi or dramatic elements into the story. Sadly, the problem is the execution. Christopher Landon may have had enough ideas, but as a director he doesn't have the chops to mix them into an entertaining film. (27/02/2019)