Movie Breakdown: Happy Death Day 2U

Pre-Screening Stance:

I missed Happy Death Day when it was initially released back in 2017, but I watched it recently and found it to be a pretty fun little film.  Happy Death Day 2U doesn’t look all that different than its predecessor, which is probably a good thing.

Post-Screening Ramble:

I very much went into Happy Death Day 2U expecting it to be a lot like Happy Death Day, and at first it seemed like I had the movie pegged correctly.  Ryan (Phi Vu) wakes up in his car, takes a stroll and eventually walks in on Tree (Jessica Rothe) and Carter (Israrel Broussard) having a bit of fun (as you may recall, this is the scene that wraps the first film).  The couple immediately toss him out of the room, so he heads to a lab to work on his science experiment, and while there an imposing figure in a familiar baby mask kills him.  Then BANG, Ryan wakes up in his car and goes about repeating the same day.  Naturally, this rattles him, but he calms down once Tree divulges her experience with such things and agrees to help him.  At this point I assumed that the rest of the movie would involve Ryan repeatedly getting murdered, but it doesn’t, as it’s not his story, it’s actually still Tree’s.  The movie also caught me off-guard by shifting from a lighthearted slasher flick into more of a sci-fi comedy with a dash of horror sprinkled on top.  There’s plenty of other surprises as well (including one very heartfelt moment that nearly made me tear up), and I really just steadily found myself enamored with all of it.  And sure, the movie is a little too long and some of it doesn’t make much sense, but it’s a good time that features easy-to-like characters and a creative (albeit silly) story.  For those seeking an amusing time at the theater, you could do much worse than Happy Death Day 2U.

One Last Thought:

Even though I’ve sat through two movies that contain a lot of details, I still don’t know why the main character’s name is Tree.  Did her parents actually name her Tree?  Or is it just a nickname?  I really hope it’s the latter.  In any case, hopefully I’ll find out in the third film (if there is one).