Capitalism kills creativity.
Let's say you have a passing-clever independent horror film that proves to be profitable and critically lauded. What's to do? Fast track a sequel and squeeze that cash cow for everything it's worth until no more dollars can be be squeezed, of course!
There will be no time for clever writing; there will only be time to retread elements from the first film. There will be no character depth; there will only be cardboard standees where characters used to be. We don't have time for nuance, the sequel needs to be out next year!
Anyway, I saw Happy Death Day 2 U (2019).
I. What Is It?
Did you see the first one? It's like that, but with a time machine. Yes. A time machine.II. Much Ado
You wouldn't think a movie would need to try this hard to justify its own existence, but here we are. The first film, Happy Death Day (2017), was a unique spin on the horror-comedy, subverting elements of the slasher sub-genre and blending in a dash of Ground Hog Day (1993). It was always meant as a one-off. At least the way it was told sort of limited itself to a single good-idea movie.
But, as we all know, people gotta make that money. So a sequel was made.
And it involves an experimental time maniulation device in the science department. We literally travel to new dimensions and the film tries, badly, to discuss time travel, the multiverse, and the ethics of living someone else's life. I mean, the film does have ambitions. Even if those ambitions are comically out of its own stunted reach.
Where the first film was funny, this one is boorish. The jokes are ham-handed least-common-denominator fare. One of the things that left an especially sour taste in my mouth was Tree's multiple suicide attempts. In the first film, she dies again and again and again, being murdered by a masked assailant. She survives longer and longer each time, though. The second movie decides to subvert this trope by having Tree kill herself again and again and again after a day of memorizing scientific algorithms (SCIENCE!). She jumps out of a plane, throws herself into a woodchipper, and even chugs Drain-O. I imagine the filmmakers thought these myriad suicides would be funny. Perhaps they were to some. I thought they were tasteless. It undermines the struggle from the first film and signals that Tree is only dying over and over and over again for our pleasure, not her own edification. And, ya know, fuck that.
In the end, there are masked killers, trans-dimensional implants, a heist, soap-opera-level antics and mid-credits stinger that seems to be setting the gang up as a government-sponsored time machine team.
Yeah.
The film is really only 100 minutes long, but I felt like I had been stuck in my own ill-advised, poorly-conceived time loop while watching it.
The first film gave Tree an emotional arc. We dispense with that arc right away so we can pretend to have another one just like it. Except when Tree needs to lean on the whole "I've died 11 times before" schtick to propel the plot out of its own rut.
The first film, and, indeed this one, establishes that each new death affects Tree's body. Essentially, the compounded trauma of all of her past deaths is beginning to slowly kill her. Outside of a few pained sighs, this movie never really does anything with this, admittedly awesome, idea. The writer's use it to suggest some kind of urgency, but Tree is never seen staggering, or vomiting blood, or even overtly weary. Just give her a few seconds of screen time, and she'll be right as rain.
- Do you think wacky suicides are funny?But, as we all know, people gotta make that money. So a sequel was made.
And it involves an experimental time maniulation device in the science department. We literally travel to new dimensions and the film tries, badly, to discuss time travel, the multiverse, and the ethics of living someone else's life. I mean, the film does have ambitions. Even if those ambitions are comically out of its own stunted reach.
Where the first film was funny, this one is boorish. The jokes are ham-handed least-common-denominator fare. One of the things that left an especially sour taste in my mouth was Tree's multiple suicide attempts. In the first film, she dies again and again and again, being murdered by a masked assailant. She survives longer and longer each time, though. The second movie decides to subvert this trope by having Tree kill herself again and again and again after a day of memorizing scientific algorithms (SCIENCE!). She jumps out of a plane, throws herself into a woodchipper, and even chugs Drain-O. I imagine the filmmakers thought these myriad suicides would be funny. Perhaps they were to some. I thought they were tasteless. It undermines the struggle from the first film and signals that Tree is only dying over and over and over again for our pleasure, not her own edification. And, ya know, fuck that.
In the end, there are masked killers, trans-dimensional implants, a heist, soap-opera-level antics and mid-credits stinger that seems to be setting the gang up as a government-sponsored time machine team.
Yeah.
The film is really only 100 minutes long, but I felt like I had been stuck in my own ill-advised, poorly-conceived time loop while watching it.
III. Only Plays By Its Rules When the Plot Demands
I hate when movies set up rules and arbitrarily break them. Especially when those rules are only seemingly broken to make the writer's job easier.The first film gave Tree an emotional arc. We dispense with that arc right away so we can pretend to have another one just like it. Except when Tree needs to lean on the whole "I've died 11 times before" schtick to propel the plot out of its own rut.
The first film, and, indeed this one, establishes that each new death affects Tree's body. Essentially, the compounded trauma of all of her past deaths is beginning to slowly kill her. Outside of a few pained sighs, this movie never really does anything with this, admittedly awesome, idea. The writer's use it to suggest some kind of urgency, but Tree is never seen staggering, or vomiting blood, or even overtly weary. Just give her a few seconds of screen time, and she'll be right as rain.
Why You Should See It
- Can you think of no better way to send a major film studio your hard-earned money?
Why You Shouldn't See It
- It feels every second of its runtime, and it isn't even that long.
- Undermines everything that made the first film unique and clever in service to lining its own pockets
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