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Movie review: 'Happy Death Day' repeats loopy formula in winning sequel

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Fred Hawson

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2019/life/02/21/20190221-hdd2-pvu.jpg"/><figcaption>A scene from &#x27;Happy Death Day 2U.&#x27; <em>Handout</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>For someone not fond of slasher films, the original &quot;<a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/life/10/24/17/movie-review-chills-and-charm-mix-in-happy-death-day">Happy Death Day</a>&quot; was a slasher film I really enjoyed because of its entertaining time loop concept laced with a wry sense of humor. Just when you thought everything was ironed out pretty neatly at the end of that film, the filmmakers behind it suprised by coming up with a sequel. Since we had a lot of fun watching the first one, deciding to watch this sequel was an automatic decision.</p><p>Part 2 began September 19, the day after Tree Gelbman&#x27;s interminable Monday in Part 1. Science geek Ryan, who had been working on his &quot;quantum reactor&quot; thesis project with this fellow nerds Samar and Dre, began having his day repeat itself. Tree got herself involved again, and after an accident with the reactor, her September 18 began all over again. However, when she noted marked differences, Tree realized that she was not in exactly the same dimension where she came from, and she must choose where she wanted to go. </p><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/IeXqWDFJZiw?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div><p>Jessica Rothe was still very likable as the desperate Tree. It was funny to see that very first scene from the last film of Tree waking up in Carter&#x27;s dorm room over and over, and Rothe gave it a different spin each time. It must have been quite a fun challenge for her to change things up with every reliving of the past and do all those different ways to die. Tree had a big decision to make in this film, a choice that spelled how the film was going to end. Rothe winningly drew us all on her side and held everything together, perverse and absurd as events may get. </p><p>It was a lot of fun seeing all the familiar characters again. Carter (Israel Broussard) was still the supportive boy in whose room Tree woke up in, but his character will have a big surprise in store in the new dimension. Mean girl Danielle was the still the hilarious comic relief she was in the first film, with more over-the-top acting from Rachelle Matthews this time. Tree&#x27;s nurse roommate Lori (Ruby Modine), Tree&#x27;s professor Dr. Butler (Charles Aitken) and Tree&#x27;s parents (Missy Yager and Jason Bayle) all had significant twists in their storylines. Ryan Phan (Phi Vu), Samar Ghosh (Suraj Sharma) and Dre Morgan (Sarah Yarkin) were all awkward and dweebish. </p><p>The repeating hi-jinks of the first movie are all here again, this time upping the dose of comedy along with the science-fiction angle. The series of Tree&#x27;s inaginatively violent death scenes by the Babyface killer were also oddly entertaining in a macabre way. The &quot;science&quot; and the &quot;math&quot; were probably all meaningless gibberish, but these scenes were quite funny, especially those where Tree herself was doing the hifalutin calculations. </p><p>However, even when the jargon was just flying over my head, the crazy editing of the scenes all seemed to make perfect sense. I actually enjoyed this a bit more than the first one.</p><p>This review was originally published in the author&#x27;s blog, &quot;<a href="https://said-fred.blogspot.com/2019/02/review-of-happy-death-day-2u-sci-fi.html">Fred Said</a>.&quot;<br/> </p>

<p>Just when you thought everything was ironed out pretty neatly at the end of the original "Happy Death Day," the filmmakers behind it suprised by coming up with a sequel. </p>

Just when you thought everything was ironed out pretty neatly at the end of the original "Happy Death Day," the filmmakers behind it suprised by coming up with a sequel.