Five Nights at Freddy's 2 review: "We have waited two years for a Five Nights at Freddy's 1.5"

GamesRadar+ Verdict

Despite Five Nights at Freddy's 2 slightly bettering its predecessor in terms of scares and impressive animatronics, the sequel fails to understand that less is more. By stuffing as many storylines and characters as possible into its relatively brief runtime, the sequel feels messy and inconclusive, leaving FNaF fans shortchanged.

Check Amazon Check Walmart Pros

• +

  Impressive, upgraded animatronics

• +

  Includes one or two exciting twists

• +

  Mckenna Grace is a great addition... when she's actually in the movie

Cons

• -

  Little character development

• -

  Matthew Lillard and Skeet Ulrich are underutilized

• -

  Overall confusing and muddled storyline

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Despite shaping up to be one of the most exciting upcoming video game movies of the year, Five Nights at Freddy's 2 has sadly become the latest 2025 horror blunder from Blumhouse. As with Megan 2.0, the Five Nights at Freddy's sequel tries its best to upgrade the first movie in any way possible. But in doing so, FNAF 2 crams in way too many characters, animatronics, and storylines in a relatively short 1 hour and 45 minute runtime. Throughout the movie, we hear a bunch of different villains say, "I want to see what is going on inside of your head." However, the only thing going on inside your head will be a voice asking what this jumbled sequel is trying to achieve.

Directed by Emma Tammi, Five Nights at Freddy's 2 welcomes back Josh Hutcherson as ex-Freddy Fazbear security guard Mike Schmidt, who is trying to move on from the events of the first movie by attempting to renovate a house and lazily pursuing a relationship with Vanessa (Elizabeth Lail). All whilst ignoring the fact that his little sister, Abby (Piper Rubio), is still deeply obsessed with the restaurant, which seems to have stunted her character development entirely. However, as hard as Mike tries to ignore it, Freddy Fazbear is everywhere as, in the past year, the town has become Freddy-crazy, spurring on the first annual Faz Festival.

For Vanessa, this brings back memories of her childhood at the original Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria, sending her on a journey of uncovering her past. This is perhaps the most interesting part of the sequel, and almost succeeds in filling in some plot holes left from the first film. Freddy's new fanatics also attract a team of paranormal investigators to the site. But if you are getting excited at the prospect of Freddy Fazbear's being turned into a ghost-hunting scare-fest like Grave Encounters, think again, as after this storyline serves its purpose, it is quickly forgotten about – much like a lot of random details sprinkled throughout the film.

In terms of honouring the Five Nights at Freddy's game series, the movie does include a fair few FNaF easter eggs and points of lore. But don't expect the sequel to take you on a journey as exciting as Scott Games' Five Nights at Freddy's 2. In this regard, the Five Nights at Freddy's 2 movie may have been better if it had stayed true to the second game rather than trying to carry on the story from the first film.

All scares, no substance

(Image credit: Universal Pictures)

Giving credit where it's due, Five Nights at Freddy's 2 certainly improves upon the first movie in terms of the level of scares. Taking what makes the original game series so popular, the sequel delivers a flurry of genuinely jolting jump-out-of-your-seat moments, thanks to the cleverly designed new animatronics and the addition of the Marionette puppet.

However, this comes at the expense of the story. The first movie fell a little flat in terms of its predictable plot and over-explaining of certain events again and again, such as Mike's little brother going missing. This made Five Nights at Freddy's feel way too long and had us wondering when it was going to end. Whereas the sequel does a complete 180, but not in the way the FNaF team may have hoped. Towards the end of the movie, it feels as though Five Nights at Freddy's 2 is hurtling through the story at breakneck speed, whilst trying to stuff in as many differing subplots, scares, and characters as possible.

The result? The movie fails to tie up any loose ends surrounding Mike and Vanessa's slightly confusing relationship, the Marionette's revenge, and new character Michael's purpose, and wastes otherwise exciting characters such as Matthew Lillard's Afton, Skeet Ulrich's Henry Emily, and McKenna Grace's paranormal investigator Lisa. This could all be put down to Blumhouse wanting to leave as many doors open as possible to keep fans on their toes for further Five Nights at Freddy's movies. However, it's hard not to feel shortchanged, as though we have waited two years for a Five Nights at Freddy's 1.5.

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Five Nights at Freddy's 2 is out in theaters on December 5. For more, check out our list of the best video game movies, and keep up with upcoming horror movies.

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I am an Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering TV and film for SFX and Total Film online. I have a Bachelors Degree in Media Production and Journalism and a Masters in Fashion Journalism from UAL. In the past I have written for local UK and US newspaper outlets such as the Portland Tribune and York Mix and worked in communications, before focusing on film and entertainment writing. I am a HUGE horror fan and in 2022 I created my very own single issue feminist horror magazine.  

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