About 10 years since the release of the popular indie horror game “Five Nights at Freddy’s” (FNAF) it is finally getting its own movie produced by Blumhouse Productions. It stars Mike Schmidt (Josh Hutcherson), Addy Schmidt (Piper Rubio) and Vanessa Monroe (Elizabeth Lail). The story follows Mike and his sister as they guard the abandoned Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza Place but something darker lurks about the establishment.
Released in October 2023, the production was a nightmare, with multiple cancellations and fake teasers. This film has gone down a rabbit hole of misinformation for the past eight years. The movie is now ready to be shown to the public.
(Warning Minor Spoilers for FNAF movie/games)
The “Five Nights at Freddy’s” movie is an adaptation of the popular game franchise “Five Nights at Freddy’s”. The game revolved around the player getting a job as a security guard. You have to keep the animatronics out of your office until six a.m. This first game sparked a franchise containing 10 main games, 10 spin-off games, and 48 books. Merchandise was picked up by two major toy producers, Funko and McFarlane. Finally, there is an entire initiative created by the game’s creator Scott Cawthon to support fan projects.
The “Five Nights at Freddy’s” brand has a wide variety of content but it is finally getting its own film after eight years of fake teasers, scripts, and sets. Now the film has finally been released to mixed reviews from critics and audiences. So, is the movie good? Well, sort of.
At the beginning of the movie, we see a guard barricaded in his office as something is attempting to break it down, he escapes through the air vents but he is locked in. Suddenly there is a slight mumble then the guard is rushed down by something. The guard wakes up in some sort of torture chair thing where a mask is lowered onto the guard except the mask has spinning saw blades in it. The guard is presumed dead.
This scene is great. It sets a mystery and leaves you on the edge of your seat. It shows what our characters could get up to later in the film.
After our guard is killed we cut to Mike Schmidt (Josh Hutcherson), whose name is from the games. He works as a mall security and he is going through the day as usual until he sees a kid being taken by an adult he chases down the adult and beats him up. Turns out that the adult was the kid’s dad so Mike (Josh Hutcherson) gets fired he then meets with his career counselor Steve Raglan (Matthew Lillard) who offers a job at the “Freddy Faz Bear’s Pizza Place” Mike (Josh Hutcherson) isn’t interested until he decides to take the job to get some money for his family.
The film was very interesting until this section. It takes way too long to get to the pizzeria and I don’t really like Mike’s (Josh Hutcherson) sister, Addy Schmidt (Piper Rubio) who for the entire movie I mistakenly thought was Mike’s (Josh Hutcherson) daughter. Until they literally said that Addy Schmidt (Piper Rubio) was Mike’s (Josh Hutcherson) brother.
After we finally get to see the pizzeria, it looks amazing. It feels like being in an old Chuck E. Cheese feels like an actual place with arcade machines, seating, a prize counter, and a kitchen. Mike (Josh Hutcherson) enters his office and dreams. In the previous section, there was a scene where Mike (Josh Hutcherson) dreams about the day his brother is kidnapped. This is a recurring thing. Mike (Josh Hutcherson) dreams again about his brother except it is the same dream every time he enters the dream state Mike (Josh Hutcherson) tries to catch his brother but he can’t. Mike (Josh Hutcherson) wakes up from his dream and his shift is over.
The entire side plot of Mike’s (Josh Hutcherson) brother is kind of an annoyance; it tries to tie to the ending but it really doesn’t fit. After this Mike (Josh Hutcherson) goes home and family issues occur with Mike’s (Josh Hutcherson) SIster-in-law who tries to take Addy (Piper Rubio) away from him. I won’t go into detail because it is boring.
Except, this family dispute does have plot relevance. Aunt Jane (Mary Stuart Masterson) is so desperate to take Addy (Piper Rubio) that she hires bandits to break into “Freddy Faz Bear’s Pizza Place” to wreck it up to get Mike (Josh Hutcherson) fired, which is very entertaining. Hank (Christian Stokes), Max (Kat Conner Sterling), and Carl (Joseph Poliquin) break into “Freddy’s” and trash it. Finally after getting 50 mins into the movie the animatronics attack, well except for the guard in the intro. First Carl (Joseph Poliquin) is killed by a sentient cupcake, Hank (Christian Stokes) is killed by Bonnie in the Janitor’s closet, and finally, Max is killed by Freddy after being bitten in half with poor CGI blood.
Later in the movie, we find their bodies stuffed in animatronic suits and it’s a pretty cool visual. Their shenanigans don’t amount to anything and Mike (Josh Hutcherson) isn’t fired.
Mike (Josh Hutcherson) was visited by Vanessa Monroe (Elizabeth Lail) to inform him about the break-in. Mike (Josh Hutcherson) didn’t want Addy (Piper Rubio) to go with him to the pizzeria because of some reason. Except, Max (Kat Conner Sterling) was Addy’s (Piper Rubio) babysitter so Mike (Josh Hutcherson) has to take her. Mike (Josh Hutcherson) falls asleep again except there are five children standing in his dream these kids possess the animatronics which is why they’re so aggressive. Addy (Piper Rubio) leaves the office while Mike (Josh Hutcherson) is sleeping.
This is all I’ll share I was really mad at the scene before but I’ve grown to find it alright. The way they defeat the big bad of the movie is really stupid but you’ll have to see for yourself because it’s not what I would have expected.
I think overall the film was decent like a six out of 10 it is better to see it with friends because there are some tiny problems that you and your pals will have a good laugh at. I wouldn’t recommend watching this movie by yourself because you’re not going to have a good time it was painfully decent to pretty bad. Still, if I sparked your interest in you to see it then go and watch it just don’t end up at “Freddy Faz Bears”.
