Rating: 4 of 5 Knight Heads
Blumhouses’ Five Nights at Freddy’s has finally been released, telling the story of loss and mystery. This film has been long awaited, as the entire fandom has been longing for their beloved gaming franchise to get the true attention it deserves.
Five Nights at Freddy’s is a movie telling the story of Mike Schmidt and his job as a security guard at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria, a rundown pizza place that thrived in the 80’s. In Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria, there are four animatronic animals: Freddy the bear who sings, Bonnie the bunny who plays the guitar, Chica the chicken, and Foxy the pirate fox. Mike and his sister, Abby, discover the animatronics are possessed by the souls of dead children. It is later discovered that William Afton, the creator of the pizza place, was the one who was “behind the slaughter”. Mike and Abby find a way to help the kids find peace and free their souls from the grasp of a cruel man.
As a fan of the franchise since the beginning, I have been looking forward to this movie like crazy. I have always loved the storyline and the lore that has been created with this gaming franchise. I always have loved listening to theories, watching fan made videos and streaming gamers who would play the games that weren’t available yet. I think people who have loved this franchise since the beginning will truly love and appreciate this movie. Though the love of this franchise may make me seem biased during this review, I will give my honest feedback throughout.
All in all, I really enjoyed this movie; not just because I have always loved the franchise, but also because of the characteristics — big and small, new and old — that made this whole movie come together.
The storyline itself was really enjoyable. Though it didn’t follow the storyline that the lore describes, it still is easy to follow and enjoyable. The way the movie is paced and showcases all of the characters and their stories is very nicely done. The way the kids and their stories are portrayed is awesome! I feel like if someone who had no knowledge about the gaming franchise going into the viewing of the movie would be able to get a solid understanding of what it originally was like. The spooky elements in this movie just bring the entire thing together. Again, though I know this movie doesn’t follow the original lore to a T, I think it still has such a lovable charm to it.
The characters in the film were portrayed very nicely. I really enjoyed the cast members and how they added their own twist to their character. The chemistry between the cast was wonderful and so real. For example, Josh Hutcherson, the actor who plays Mike, and Piper Rubio, the actor who played Mike’s sister Abby, were a great pair to play siblings. The way they interacted with each other throughout the movie was really accurate to how siblings would interact in real life (coming from me, an older sibling, I mean it).
When it comes to the animatronics themselves, I loved their design. I loved absolutely everything about them. I loved how they were made with an almost fluffy looking texture and life size proportions (they are so tall). With help from Jim Henson’s Creature Shop, Blumhouse Productions was able to bring these characters to life. Along with all of that, no CGI was used when filming the movie, meaning the animatronics were puppeteered with the help of strings. In some instances where a scene would require more movement from the animatronics, people had to wear the suits. This fact on its own is just really out of this world, and makes me love the whole movie even more, and almost adds a nostalgic element too it.
With all of that said, I thoroughly enjoyed the Five Nights at Freddy’s movie. As a fan of the franchise since the beginning, I loved all of the new and old references, jokes, jumpscares, and plot twists that was included. I recommend seeing it if you haven’t yet, you will not regret it. Don’t be scared, watch the movie.
