Happy Death Day 2U

Happy Death Day 2U

Starring Jessica Rothe, Israel Broussard, Phi Vu, Rachel Matthews

Directed by Christopher Landon

The Story:
Having survived the time loop in which she was murdered by a killer in a Babyface mask, Tree (Jessica Rothe) is now living her ideal life - she's nicer, wiser, and dating Carter (Israel Broussard).  Then his roommate Ryan (Phi Vu) experiences deja vu after experiencing his own death, and Tree realizes that the time loop has moved to him.  She learns that Ryan, Carter, and their other friends have been working on a quantum reactor, and when it accidentally goes off, Tree finds herself stuck again in her original loop, but things are different - yet the Babyface killer is back, and now she has to unmask the new killer before it claims the lives of her friends and fix the future for good.

The Synopsis:
In 2017, "Happy Death Day" became a pleasant surprise in the horror genre, offering a unique spin on the slasher film as it mixed it with a "Groundhog Day" concept of having the main character re-live her death over and over until she finds who's behind it.  It was a fun film filled with satirical humor and zany antics, led by a strong performance by Jessica Rothe, who starts the film as an entitled, spoiled sorority girl and slowly learns humility and love as she encounters her death over and over.

When the first film ended, it seemed like the perfect ending, one that couldn't possibly include a sequel.  Yet now we got "Happy Death Day 2U," and while it's not as great as the original, it still maintains a unique spin on the genre, this time spicing things up by including a sci-fi aspect and indirect (as well as obviously direct) nods to another classic film it takes its cues from.  To go into detail of the plot would give away major events, and it's one of those films you literally have to see to believe.

On the negative side, it seemed that director Christopher Landon wasn't sure of the direction the film should take from the start, as the first part of the film seems vastly different than the remainder of the film.  Again, to go into detail would delve into spoilers, and I won't do that - but suffice it to say the film does a complete 180 that makes the opening sequence seem totally inconsequential to the overall plot.  Also, the film focuses on Tree's relationships and doesn't really give much credence to the actual Babyface killer this time around, as there doesn't seem to be a lot of investigation into who this new killer is - it almost becomes a secondary idea to the film, to the point where even I forgot there was a killer at all.  The focus of the film was something vastly different than the first, and while that's not inherently a bad thing, it seems tonally off in the overall aspect.

Now for what the film does right.  As with the first, it smartly focuses on Tree's life and subsequent deaths in a very humorous way.  There's a montage where she repeatedly kills herself in unique ways (the best, in my opinion, was the skydive of death), and it's strange to say killing yourself is funny, but it is here.  It seems that the horror aspect of the film is all but removed, and it's now become a comedy full-on, with some dramatic moments and comical college antics (there's even a mean ole dean who tries to ruin the fun of Tree and her friends - but here the "fun" is more scientific than toga parties).

The film also offers surprisingly heartfelt and emotional moments, ones that make you question what is more important in life - living in the past, or looking forward to the future.  Again, not to give anything away, but Jessica Rothe totally kills it (pun intended) in these strong emotional moments.  Rothe is, as she's always been, a pure joy to watch as she gives deeper meaning to Tree's life than just a simple sorority girl.

When the film focuses on finding the Babyface killer (which it doesn't do enough of, in my opinion), it really returns to what made the original so great.  There's a bigger mystery at hand, and that takes the most amount of time in the film, but this other story is very multi-leveled and filled with exciting twists and turns that somehow drives the point home while maintaining in the peripheral.  We get to see more from side characters like Carter's roommate Ryan and Tree's sorority leader Danielle than we did in the first, and that - coupled with the addition of several new characters and other characters who exhibit vastly different natures than their original counterparts - serve to uplift the story to more important levels. So while the sequel does manage to capture a lot of the original's heart, it struggles a bit to find its own footing.

The Summary:
While not as unique as the original, "Happy Death Day 2U" is a welcome addition to this budding trilogy, providing more humor than horror, and giving a deeper emotional depth to our favorite sorority girl survivor.

The Score: A