Five Night at Freddy's Flourishes With Faztastic Fan Service
The long-awaited passion project is a dream to longtime fans that keeps audiences coming back.
By Davis Jones and Em Sandis
The long-awaited passion project is a dream to longtime fans that keeps audiences coming back.
By Davis Jones and Em Sandis
After more than 2,850 nights of waiting, audiences finally got to spend “Five Nights at Freddy’s” when the long-awaited movie released in theaters and on the streaming service Peacock on Oct. 27.
The movie follows Mike Schmidt (Josh Hutcherson), who, after getting fired from being a security guard, is desperate for a job to keep custody of his sister Abby (Piper Rubio). Mike is offered a security job at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza by career counselor Steve Raglan (Matthew Lillard). In the ‘80s, Freddy’s was a place of joy where fantasy and fun came to life. But Mike’s not there during the day. He has the night watch. With faulty power, terrible pay and even worse hours, Mike along with the mysterious cop Vanessa (Elizabeth Lail) will uncover the mysteries and overcome the dangers of the pizzeria as he survives Five Nights at Freddy’s.
In other “computer to big screen” video game movies, the soul of the film is too often lost in the high corporate demands set for writers and actors. This is not the case here. After eight long years, the film was born from 13 games and approximately 30 books from the mind of series creator Scott Cawthon. This movie is a fantasy come to life for any fan of the series. “Five Nights at Freddy’s” is made for and by people who love the original series, making the plot somewhat muddled for first-timers experiencing the technicolored world of Freddy’s. Nevertheless, this movie remains true to the source material and presents a world straight out of the beloved digital game franchise.
A major concern fans had going into the movie was whether or not Jim Henson’s Creature Shop, the company responsible for bringing the animatronics to life, would be able to bring their wholesome, yet creepy designs to life. Before the creation of “Five Nights at Freddy’s,” Cawthon received criticism that the characters of his previous game looked like creepy animatronics. Cawthon took this criticism and molded it into the stars of the series, Freddy Fazbear, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy. The animatronics are intentionally cute and appealing to children, yet ominous and spooky at night. Jim Henson’s Creature Shop nailed the looks of the animatronics down to every last detail. They’re scary when provoked, but when on stage and interacting with Abby, they’re friendly and look harmless. It’s impressive how the movie managed to find this balance. The actors and puppeteers do an amazing job portraying the animatronics as cold and robotic, but somehow alive at the same time.
The animatronics of this movie are the film’s shining stars, but they are truly brought to life by their human co-stars. Hutcherson’s character really evokes emotion in audiences in the care he shows for his kid sister. Rubio does a great job of making an otherwise cliché thriller a story about hope. She, along with her co-stars Hutcherson and Lail, really carry the story and they serve to move the plot forward in a dynamic and different way. The connection to the animatronics that the three share is something straight out of a family sitcom and really imbues the production with life from the average jump scares although it sometimes seems out of left field.
“Five Nights at Freddy’s” truly brings the spirit of the game series to life in an astounding way. Fans of the franchise will appreciate and love this adaptation of the game's story. Viewers without a connection to the series likely won’t be as interested or invested, but the movie serves as a great introduction to the franchise for those who don’t want to play all the games or read all the books to understand the story.
“Five Nights at Freddy’s” is available to stream on Peacock.
The movie follows Mike Schmidt (Josh Hutcherson), who, after getting fired from being a security guard, is desperate for a job to keep custody of his sister Abby (Piper Rubio). Mike is offered a security job at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza by career counselor Steve Raglan (Matthew Lillard). In the ‘80s, Freddy’s was a place of joy where fantasy and fun came to life. But Mike’s not there during the day. He has the night watch. With faulty power, terrible pay and even worse hours, Mike along with the mysterious cop Vanessa (Elizabeth Lail) will uncover the mysteries and overcome the dangers of the pizzeria as he survives Five Nights at Freddy’s.
In other “computer to big screen” video game movies, the soul of the film is too often lost in the high corporate demands set for writers and actors. This is not the case here. After eight long years, the film was born from 13 games and approximately 30 books from the mind of series creator Scott Cawthon. This movie is a fantasy come to life for any fan of the series. “Five Nights at Freddy’s” is made for and by people who love the original series, making the plot somewhat muddled for first-timers experiencing the technicolored world of Freddy’s. Nevertheless, this movie remains true to the source material and presents a world straight out of the beloved digital game franchise.
A major concern fans had going into the movie was whether or not Jim Henson’s Creature Shop, the company responsible for bringing the animatronics to life, would be able to bring their wholesome, yet creepy designs to life. Before the creation of “Five Nights at Freddy’s,” Cawthon received criticism that the characters of his previous game looked like creepy animatronics. Cawthon took this criticism and molded it into the stars of the series, Freddy Fazbear, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy. The animatronics are intentionally cute and appealing to children, yet ominous and spooky at night. Jim Henson’s Creature Shop nailed the looks of the animatronics down to every last detail. They’re scary when provoked, but when on stage and interacting with Abby, they’re friendly and look harmless. It’s impressive how the movie managed to find this balance. The actors and puppeteers do an amazing job portraying the animatronics as cold and robotic, but somehow alive at the same time.
The animatronics of this movie are the film’s shining stars, but they are truly brought to life by their human co-stars. Hutcherson’s character really evokes emotion in audiences in the care he shows for his kid sister. Rubio does a great job of making an otherwise cliché thriller a story about hope. She, along with her co-stars Hutcherson and Lail, really carry the story and they serve to move the plot forward in a dynamic and different way. The connection to the animatronics that the three share is something straight out of a family sitcom and really imbues the production with life from the average jump scares although it sometimes seems out of left field.
“Five Nights at Freddy’s” truly brings the spirit of the game series to life in an astounding way. Fans of the franchise will appreciate and love this adaptation of the game's story. Viewers without a connection to the series likely won’t be as interested or invested, but the movie serves as a great introduction to the franchise for those who don’t want to play all the games or read all the books to understand the story.
“Five Nights at Freddy’s” is available to stream on Peacock.