Saw it last night. If you liked the first one, you'll like this one.
It did not do a "FNaF 2" IMO.
Does it do anything different? Not really.
Does it swing for the fences in any regard? Not really.
Does it service the brand? Yes.
Does it keep you entertained? Yes.
By my count, it does its job - so
i don't know what other people necessarily expected to happen here...
I have two points i will note below in spoilers that i don't think would be giving away anything but don't want to spoil anything for anyone regardless.
1. they VASTLY improved the music. if anyone isn't familiar with the horrible needle drops on the first movie, they ORIGINALLY had an entire score you can listen to online. Brian Tyler did an amazing job and they absolutely demolished his work by doing nonsensical pop songs during sequences that should've AND COULD'VE had Mario's ICONIC music. The founder of illumination FORCED them into the movie and made it noticeably worse as a result.
the second movie has ONE needle drop and it's SHORT and FUNNY AND near the beginning of the movie so ONCE IT'S DONE you can move on and enjoy yourself. if y'all weren't aware, check out #releasetheTylerCut of the original movie.
2. the ANIMATION STYLE is also not just improved but experimental in a fun and creative way. There is an anime sequence. There is an 8-bit sequence. There are several story-book sequences. There is a hand-puppet sequence (that's animated but LOOKED like it could've been real at first). There is a LOT of great stylized action and fighting and flying going on. It alludes to Smash Bros in MULTIPLE fight scenes with character's moves. It alludes to other Mario games even more literally than that (one scene will stand out near the end). What charm the first movie taps into for only brief moments this one brings IN SPADES.
Everything in me wants to say it
IS a better movie, but it does have SOME downgrades I'll save for another discussion. One of my favorite Nintendo characters is brought to the screen in near-perfect clarity, so i can't really complain after feeling the
dumb smile spread across my face while watching it last night. lol