By: Autumn Allen
On October 27th, 2023, millions of fans got dressed up and made their way to theaters to watch the movie they’ve been waiting patiently nine years for: the FNAF movie.
The FNAF movie, although not exactly like the games or books, was still enjoyed by many fans. Even with the joy it brought some fans though, others seem to not enjoy the film as much as others. Was the movie really that bad though? Did the childish scenes and lack of violence hurt the image of the beloved games and books?
In the film, our main character, Mike Schmidt (Josh Hutcherson), is having trouble finding a job to keep custody of his sister, Abby Schmidt (Piper Rubio). After meeting an unemployment worker, Steve Raglan (Matthew Lillard), he is eventually able to get a job at Freddy Fazbear’s, a shut-down pizza place with a dark past. After Abby gets wrapped up in the dark past of the restaurant, Mike has to face his and the restaurant’s dark pasts with the help of a local police officer, Vanessa (Elizabeth Lail), in order to save himself and his sister.
This movie was one of my favorites. While my opinion could come from nostalgia, the acting and set design said otherwise. I loved how well the actors could display their emotions in every scene. It was so easy to feel the tension and stress Mike was feeling, the child-like wonder Abby had about the kids stuck in the suits, and the fear and worry Vanessa had about Mike and Abby. Also, while some scenes were nicely designed, I found that the pizzeria set designs were my favorite. The movie didn’t fail on the accuracy of the set to the games, as well as the design of the animatronics.
While the acting and set designs were amazing, the part that got people up in arms was the lack of violence. Due to the movie’s PG-13 rating, there was a lack of violence and fighting happening in the movie for some fans. Some fans complained about the “childish” actions of the animatronics, or the “childish” scenes in the movie, like the pillow fort-building scene. While yes, these scenes were childish, aren’t the spirits in these animatronics children? After all the trauma they’ve been through, and being forced to stay children, shouldn’t they be able to do childish stuff like fort building and dancing without judgment? It’s understandable that some would prefer more violence and horror due to the franchise’s history, but it’s impossible for the movie to be exactly like the games.
All in all, I found this movie to be highly enjoyable, with lots of references added in. I would highly recommend this movie to anyone who has played the games, read the books, or even is someone who wants to have a fun experience.
