Delayed Reaction: Happy Death Day 2U

The Pitch: It's a story about how the same thing keeps happening over and over again. Doesn't that naturally invite a sequel?

The time loop from the first movie begins again, only with a few twists.

The first movie is a fun little horror comedy. It knows not to take itself to seriously. Most of it rests on how well Jessica Rothe can sell it. I believe my assessment of it was that it was the best version of that movie that it could be.

Happy Death Day really doesn't need a sequel. As a standalone movie, it's a random scenario that can go without explanation. A sequel demands explanation. Why is this happening again? How is it happening? So, it's not an accident? To their credit, the people behind Happy Death Day 2U realized this and leaned even more into the ridiculousness. In the process, it did remove any remnants of horror from it. 2U is a more straight comedy with some SciFi elements than a horror comedy. Given that, it's also about the best version of itself possible.Limited but working well within the limitations.

Jessica Rothe remains a funny and likable lead. The surrounding cast populates the world nicely. Phi Vu is good in an expanded role. I mean, everyone is 5-10 years too old for their roles, but that's OK. The movie remembers the first rule of imperfect movies - don't overstay your welcome - by keeping the length at 1h40m. And even that is a little flabby. What remains impressive is how well the series handles the repetitive elements. They know exactly how many visual cues the audience needs and how many times they can hit them before they get annoying. I never reached a point where I thought, "Oh god, this part again."

I didn't like this movie as much though because of how much it undid everything about the first movie. Bringing the mom back gets rid of all the closure from the first movie. Part of the reason the ending of the first movie works is because the relationships she's built can finally last. 2U erases them yet again. It also de-redded all the herrings from the first movie, which...no. Don't do that. The reason they were red herrings the first time is because they were obvious suspects and making someone like her cheating professor the killer would've been lazy writing. Reverting back to that idea in the sequel doesn't make it any less lazy.

Verdict: Weakly Recommend