Picking up the day after HD1, Tree (Jessica Rothe) finds herself caught back in the loop - only this time, she is stuck in an alternate timeline where the only thing that is guaranteed is a killer wearing a baby mask and a big knife.
A sequel to the 2017 Groundhog Day riff, this sequel is a full-on horror comedy. Thrust into an alternate universe that inverts the conditions of her old one, our heroine is faced with losing what she has gained, or re-gaining what she has lost.
Making a sequel is fraught with peril: do you repeat what you did before? Do you try something different?
The makers of Happy Death Day 2 U choose to maintain the concept AND bring back the main character. What makes this movie work is that the way the central premise has been re-worked provides an opportunity for further development of Tree's character.
Another benefit is the shift in town. Whereas the original felt like a murder mystery with humour, the balance is inverted here. There are some scares and kills, but the movie is at its best as a black comedy - heck, when the movie focuses on Tree's (spoilers) relationship with her mother, there's probably a solid argument for analysing HDD2U as an extended commentary on life and loss.
The slasher mystery ends up feeling like a subplot.
The slasher mystery ends up feeling like a subplot.
This movie is so well-constructed. It never feels bloated or a conscious copy of the original, and the tonal shift works great - these movies are ultimately about Tree’s growth (no pun intended) rather than the more cookie cutter slasher tropes.
Once again, the cast are excellent, centred around the terrific Jessica Rothe. Rothe is great at maintaining the story's pathos without losing the humour.
The sense of frustration and rage she feels at having to relive her nightmare is palatable. She has been through this scenario so many times she actively seeks out her own destruction so she can get it over with. The movie does not lean too hard into this idea - once again, the movie’s balance of content and tone is terrific.
Once again, it is a testament to the movie as a whole that at no point do either the humour or the horror feel extraneous to Tree's journey, and Rothe's excellent performance is the key component that ties the whole project together.
I am curious to see what writer-director Christopher Landon does next - there is an assurance to the way the movie juggles time, and a clarity to the way it handles its characterisation that gives the story a sense of weight, without negating the comedy.
If you are new to this blog, I also co-host a podcast on James Bond called The James Bond Cocktail Hour. Every episode, we do a review of one of the books and one of the movies, picked at random.
The latest episode is out now - we review the 1987 film The Living Daylights, starring Timothy Dalton. Available wherever you get your podcasts.
Related
Happy Death Day
No comments:
Post a Comment