Five Nights at Freddy’s is a game franchise that finally received a movie adaptation. The movie came out on the 27th of October in theaters and streaming platform Peacock. People have anticipated a movie for this franchise and fans have been wanting it for years. It’s an impactful movie because massives amount of fans have spent years wishing for.
Plot
The movie follows a plot that resembles the original games. It still adds enough surprises for the old fans. “The film follows a troubled security guard as he begins working at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. While spending his first night on the job, he realizes the night shift at Freddy’s won’t be so easy to make it through,” (Rotten Tomatoes).
The plot was well developed in some moments, yet there were slight kinks. Alex Pham, a graduate of Jenison High School, would say: “I feel like the plot was interesting and I feel like it had good pacing, but I felt like it had moments where any tension there might have been with the animatronics was broken and there were some things that felt odd and not fully developed.”
Character Development
Steve Raglan, a character we meet in the beginning and later comes back with an interesting twist. “Raglan is played by none other than horror icon Matthew Lillard, who seems a little shady when he presents Mike with his limited job options, namely a night security gig at a rundown pizza parlor that was shut down in the ’80s,” (IGN).
Steve does not have any reason that we see in the movie to undergo the changes that he goes through. Sofia Alvarez, a senior in high school who watched the movie a day after release says: “The twist was no surprise to those who know about the lore of Five Nights at Freddy’s, so the ending felt super satisfying with the last thing he says. However, I feel like the minority that does not know could’ve been confused about the final words as they make no sense without having character development that was featured in the games.”
Visual and Effects
Attempting to have realistic visuals when creating animatronics is hard. “One of the very first decisions Tammi made in adapting Five Nights at Freddy’s was committing to using practical effects as the way to bring the animatronic antagonists to life. Because the film is set in the 2000s (like the game), and the scares are meant to come from watching these restaurant robot performers stalk their human prey, Tammi said she knew CGI wasn’t going to
work.”(NBC). The visuals effects were well rounded with a few moments that felt iffy. Alex Pham says, “I think they are good, I felt immersed. There were some scenes that felt weird like interaction between Chica and her cupcake, the arm looked weird but I’m sure that’s due to there being a human inside.”
work.”(NBC). The visuals effects were well rounded with a few moments that felt iffy. Alex Pham says, “I think they are good, I felt immersed. There were some scenes that felt weird like interaction between Chica and her cupcake, the arm looked weird but I’m sure that’s due to there being a human inside.”Culture
While the movie may lack in some parts, what it doesn’t lack is the culture and community. “Freddy’s has expanded into so much unexpected pop culture real estate — a full game series, indie game imitators, books and graphic novels, toys and collectibles, an energetic movie rip-off — that the new feature film version feels long overdue, even though the first game only dates back to 2014,” (Polygon).
Whether the movie was good, many fans would have loved it anyway. Five Nights at Freddy’s is a beloved series. It would still have as many sales as now if it were bad. “Five Nights at Freddy’s is something that has been rumored for years and people have hyped it up for so long. The community surrounding the franchise, even those who stopped caring years ago, was able to grow back together to celebrate and watch the movie together. I was going to enjoy the movie whether it was bad or good,” (Sofia Alvarez).
