Gasps and squeals over Five Nights At Freddy's
Five Nights At Freddy's (PG13)
109 minutes, now showing
2.5 stars
Gasps and squeals were aplenty during the premiere screening of Five Nights At Freddy's in Singapore, but not those of the horror variety. Although far from scary, the movie offers a different kind of fun and entertainment, particularly for fans of the popular video game series on which it's based.
Josh Hutcherson of The Hunger Games fame takes on the lead role of Mike, a troubled youth who reluctantly accepts a night-time job as a security guard at a deserted family entertainment centre to avoid losing custody of his younger sister, Abby. He is befriended by police officer Vanessa, played by Elizabeth Lail from Netflix’s hit series You.
Unfortunately, not even their impressive filmography can save the movie’s weak plot and stilted dialogue, especially with a script as robotic as the animatronic antagonists that inhabit Freddy’s. Vanessa is perhaps the most laughably idle police officer in the history of cinema, but this is just one of many befuddling things about the film. For instance, why do you even need a security guard for an abandoned building to begin with?
The sole bright spot in this depressingly dull movie however, is Piper Rubio, who knocks it out of the park in her role as Abby. Despite her tender age, the child actor shows remarkable talent by managing to endear, delight and tug at heartstrings all at once.
What truly had the audience buzzing were the cameos by YouTube stars MatPat and CoryxKenshin, whose appearances immediately sparked much fervour in the theatre. If you aren’t big on gaming like myself though, you probably won’t recognise these names or fully get the fanfare.
Five Nights At Freddy's it might be, but I wouldn’t spend another five minutes on it. It was much more amusing observing the reactions of viewers, such as how they were shouting ‘Boo!’ at each other during the movie and gasping at all the right parts.
Tip: Don’t be too quick to leave your seats once the credits roll as there is more to come.
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