Title(s): Happy Death Day (1 and 2U)
Release Date(s): October 13, 2017 (1)
February 13, 2019 (2U)
View Time(s): February 13, 2019 - 9:00 P.M. (1)
February 14, 2019 (Valentine's Day!) - 7:40 P.M. (2U)
Running Time(s): 96 minutes (1)
100 minutes (2U)
Format & Location: Blu-ray (1) - London Home Base
Standard - Toronto Cineplex Fairview Mall
NOTE: While this review talks about both movies in Happy Death Day series so far, more emphasis will be on Happy Death Day 2U.
"I'm so done with this s***" - Just hang in there Tree, you're doing great, only a few more time loops to go!
Happy first week of spring everyone! Today we'll be following Theresa "Tree" Gelbman as she gets killed on her birthday over and over again.
Happy first week of spring everyone! Today we'll be following Theresa "Tree" Gelbman as she gets killed on her birthday over and over again.
Happy first week of spring everyone! Today we'll be following Theresa "Tree" Gelbman as she gets killed on her birthday over and over again.
Okay, joke's over! As you can probably tell by now, this series is all about repetition. We have already seen this "live, die, repeat" scenario in other genres like Comedy (Groundhog Day) or Action/Sci-Fi (Edge of Tomorrow). And now here we are, the same situation applied to soft Horror but surprisingly entertaining.
I originally thought Blumhouse Production is only the home of Universal Pictures Horror department in recent years, but when I checked Wikipedia, I found out... this was the same company that co-produced comedy Tooth Fairy in 2010 (Warden Media is the top production company that gets its own logo in that movie)! It also produced other major horror franchises that are not distributed by Universal like Paranormal Activity and Insidious. After the mediocre Split that I watched a few weeks ago, the surprising hit Get Out that has been added to two of the Film Studies courses in my university, and Halloween (2018) that I still considered to be WAY better than the original, I got a general sense of the range of quality that Blumhouse can achieve. Okay, Happy Death Day double feature, here we go!
[SPOILERS FOR Happy Death Day START IN THE NEXT PARAGRAPH]
Happy Death Day was released on Friday the 13th in October 2017 (which was also the day that I got my G Driver's License, guess it's not a cursed day after all). University co-ed/sorority member Tree is murdered on the night of her birthday by a person wearing a baby mask. But when she wakes up again, she finds herself back to the morning of her birthday. And so the cycle continues... After living through the same day eleven times, Tree strips away her egocentric behaviour by becoming nice to everyone around her, and she eventually apprehends her killer - her roommate Lori who poisons a cupcake and uses her connection in hospital to frame a serial killer for her crime.
With its limitations on blood, gore, sexuality and language cruelty because of its PG-13 rating, Happy Death Day is one of the most interesting slasher films for the beginners of this genre. It nicely balances the amount of humour and action without diving into any scientific, sociological or psychological explanations that average movie goers will not understand. And it follows my ideal expectation of how a movie should end - on a happy note without anyone dying! The performance? This is Jessica Rothe's first starring role in a major motion picture, and she was the runner-up of New Mexico Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress. Even though I cannot pinpoint a moment where she absolutely shines as Tree, for someone who just started to receive recognition by major Hollywood Studios, that is truly a magnificent effort. She has the ability to turn this old time loop trope into a refreshing experience for a generation of audiences who have not seen Groundhog Day (which is referenced in this movie). This is definitely one of the better production from Blumhouse and in my opinion, falls somewhere between Split and Glass in terms of quality.
[End of spoilers for Happy Death Day, start of spoilers for Happy Death Day 2U]
The trailer for Happy Death Day 2U suggests that Tree is now back in the time loop and has to kill herself over and over again since the masked murderer is now after everyone around her. THE TRAILER LIED!!! Well sort of... it's amazing to see how deceitful the trailers can be nowadays, huge props to the editor for attracting us to the theatres!
Here's what REALLY happened... Remember Ryan, Carter's roommate that always come into the room when Carter and Tree are having a moment? Turns out he is working on a science project with two of his smart friends, and their Sisyphus Quantum Cooling Reactor (SISSY) is what created a time loop on Tree in the first movie. After an accident caused by the reactor, Tree is back to a time loop in her birthday... but in an alternate dimension with some major changes around her. The only way for her to close the loop and back to the reality that she knows is to go through a series of failed attempts to get SISSY to work, and that is why she kills herself repeatedly, to find out the only equation that leads to a successful trial. Of course, Tree finally (once again) apprehends the (different) masked killer(s) with the help from Carter and Ryan's science group, and everything is back to the way it was.
Same as its predecessor, Happy Death Day 2U is not a masterpiece, but its hybridization of different genres will attract fans of all genres alike. I certainly enjoyed it on the night of Valentine's Day, with only frozen yogurt to keep me company (which was already empty by the time the trailers started). The movie amplifies the comedic tone from the first one while still manages to keep some suspenseful moments (without becoming too scary). And now, Blumhouse decides to throw in the "altered reality" concept from Back to the Future series (and still makes a reference to it like they did with Groundhog Day in the first movie) which answers tons of questions everyone have for the predecessor and generates a few more (I will talk about them later).
Having just experienced the beauty that animation can achieve with Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, alternate dimension is not really a news to me. To be honest, it is not really a difficult topic to understand, but Ryan's explanation with the demonstration of the multi-verse by poking through a page (which is what every movie use nowadays - including Interstellar - to explain the black hole as a portal) just makes it more difficult for non-scientific movie fans. But... once we put aside all the science stuff and look at what is changed, it is clear that Tree is stuck in an alternate reality. In this universe, Lori does not want to kill Tree, Tree's sassy housemate Danielle is dating Carter, and most importantly, Tree's mother Julie, who was already dead before the events of the first movie, is alive and well! Clearly Tree is excited to see her, but should she return to her dimension or stay with her mom in an alternative timeline that she is never a part of? Decisions, decisions...
While Happy Death Day is a portrait of Tree and speculate on what kind of person she can be, the sequel explores how she can be the kind of person she is today. In this case, Julie's absence is exactly why Tree is who she is now. We have seen Carter falling under the masked killer's knife for both films, and even though the plot seems to be recycled, this time just feels different, and in a way is a strong affirmation of this growing relationship. This brings us back to the age-old question: When your mother and your lover both fall into the lake, who do you save? Okay, maybe that's a terrible comparison. My point is, the mother's absence is a part of Tree's reality, and she understands that no amount of cinnamon buns (apparently a tradition that she and her mom has for their birthday, which of course, she has no recollection of) can fix the different relationships that she has made since the time loop incident. So I guess a part of what the movie is trying to say is to let go of the past (or the life that does not belong to you) and cherish what you have now, and Tree's sacrifice this time at the power plant is really a powerful way to deliver this message (no pun intended).
Fans of the first Happy Death Day have only waited for about 16 months for Jessica Rothe's return as Tree, and this time, she brings out more craziness that is inside her, and she behaves just like a college student in the brink of a mental breakdown, with all the shouting and grunting in frustration, I can tell that she is tired of this time-looping mess. Unlike the last movie, I can pinpoint on the exact moment where Rothe has really outdone herself, and I believe that if she keeps putting out quality work like that, she might be a Super Star in the near future to look out for! And the moment that I'm referring to is, of course, the family lunch scene where Tree's parents bring out a birthday cake. With the shot-reverse-shot pattern exchanges between Tree and Julie's facial expressions, and the soundtrack (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tM2iJ5dkvDY&index=13&list=PLohYzz4btpaQuOWXoQD332QHs9MRGhL3L) to set off the mood, both come together to make the most emotional moment of the series thus far.
Okay, this is a really entertaining and touching movie, and I can tell that the filmmakers initially had some plans to bring out the third Happy Death Day. Looks like they are already shouting out their desire for a sequel at two moments in the movie, one of the indications of that is in the first act. When Tree, Carter and Ryan apprehend the new masked killer in their reality, they are surprised to find a future version of Ryan under the mask, who believes that disaster must be prevented by killing Ryan in the present timeline. Wait... when Tree is in the alternate universe, she replaces herself in that timeline, so how can there be two Ryans at the same place and the same time? That's something that will require a lot of explanation in Part Three. Unlike the first movie, this one has an end credits scene that concludes with a cliffhanger. with SISSY in possession of the Department of Defence, and Tree selected Danielle as the new volunteer subject for the time loop. Yeah, considering what Danielle has done in both dimensions, I think audience deserves to see her learn what Tree has being through over and over again. BUT, due to the movie's underperformance in Box Office, the status of another sequel is now "not very [likely] but not impossible" (https://screenrant.com/jason-blum-happy-death-day-3-not-happening/amp/?__twitter_impression=true). Here's a message to Jason Blum: there are fans out there like me who wants the series to keep going, and nothing is impossible!
[END OF SPOILERS]
Friendship, sacrifice, self-identity, power of love, both Happy Death Day movies (and especially the second one) really take time to explore these topics, whereas most of Horror and Thriller movies out there focus more on the intensity that could agitate the audience (I'm looking at you Saw franchise!). Happy Death Day 2U pays tributes to Sci-fi classics, includes enough thriller moments to keep audience entertained, and still has plenty of time left to flesh out relationship between friends and family. It would be interesting to see if this movie can make its way into a film class in universities somewhere as an example of "every-film" that has a little bit of all genres other than War, Western, and Musical. Wait, the producers want the third movie to be in a different genre https://www.cinemablend.com/news/2466832/happy-death-day-2us-director-already-has-the-idea-for-part-3)? Oh no, I better scratch out what I just said so that we don't end up getting The War on September 18th, Once Upon a Time in the Sorority House, or even worse, Happy Death Day: The Musical!
Happy Death Day is now available on Blu-ray and DVD; Happy Death Day 2U is in theatres now and it has a wide release.
happy death day is now available on blu-ray and dvd; happy death day 2u is in theatres now and it has a wide release.
HaPpY dEaTh DaY Is NoW aVaIlaBlE oN bLu-RaY aNd DvD; hApPy DeAtH dAy 2u Is In ThEaTrEs NoW aNd It HaS a WiDe ReLeAsE.
(Okay, I'll stop now!)
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