Happy Death Day 2U (2019)
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Happy Death Day 2U Movie Review
Happy Death Day 2U is a 2019 science fiction comedy film directed by Christopher Landon and starring Jessica Rothe. It’s a somewhat disappointing flick.
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“Once a douchebag,
always a douchebag“
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It again follows Tree who is accidentally transported to another dimension, where she must relive a different version of the same day repeatedly as she tries to return home, while a new killer is on the loose. I really liked the original film to the point of even considering a four-star rating for it so the fact that it got a three-star quality sequel really disappointed me.
Now I did like that the film switched genres from a horror comedy to a sci-fi comedy, but once again the comedy department is where the flick shines whereas in the main genre it really floundered. The repeat day experience was so much more entertaining the first time around and this alternate reality part to the movie wasn’t inspired or particularly fun.
The movie is at its best when it’s realizing how silly of an affair it is and when it’s meta in a way or cheesy or funny. The humor here is so good and also the romantic elements really worked once again. It just needed a better plot drive to carry it through to the finish line.
Jessica Rothe is again so good as Tree, though sometimes obviously acting, but mostly very effective. I did not like Vu the first time around so the beginning here belonged entirely to him and I was bored. I did like the addition of Suraj Sharma to the cast and he’s so damn likable here. It’s crazy that I haven’t seen him from ‘Life of Pi’, which is unfortunate as he’s a fine actor.
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I did really like the mom subplot which was so great, though it can get a bit too sentimental, but mostly it worked as it pleasantly reminded me of the drama with Carter in the first movie. Carter here is so much less memorable and the entire third act really went downhill as the movie previously was pretty solid, but the ending was too convoluted, rushed and uninteresting.
Happy Death Day 2U shifted genres from a horror comedy to a sci-fi comedy and again it works in the latter department, but in the SF elements it did not work at all as it was uninspired, convoluted and rushed. I did really like the subplot with Tree’s mom and again the performances are fine and the humor is good, but the story is much less fun this time around leading to a disappointing sequel.
