Von Vulture

had been waiting nearly 8 years for this film to come out. I dulling in all the lore, playing all the games (except security breach) and having dealt with the sting of all the production issues in the past that made the FNaF Movie see like a wet dream. When this finally came out I was hopeful despite the PG-13 mark (more on that later). But that hope was crushed. First of all the movie is NOWHERE near as scary as the games. The animatronics look great, the scenery is amazing, and the sound and music were perfect. Those 3 aspects captured my vision, and the vision of many others. So what went wrong? Lack of horror, the story was NOT satisfying nor wanted, and the movie got goofier and more cliché as time wore on. It simply stopped being a Freddy's movie and more of a "Friendship" is magic style cartoon (with rest graphics). ——————————————————————————— Note*The good points need no explanation as they speak for themselves from the Intro to the end of the film, I especially loved the cameo of the Living Tombstone Song. ——————————————————————————— So, when you have a not at all terrifying film adaptation of a game that is terrifying, there's always something wrong. And this is evident as the story progresses and we get to that Friendship arc. This is NOT the story of Freddy's but an unrecognizable adaptation or alternate universe (hardly uncommon as we have similar instances in Scott's books, where characters names' are different, etc.) . That brings me back to the PG-13 Marker. PG-13 obliterated ALL potential of this film. Us older fans were expecting bloodshed and horror, a brutal murder mystery that ends in a bloody, savoury revenge. However, that's not what we were given. Instead, the movie seemed to pander to family audiences and heartstrings rather than mental and emotional torment. I remember when YouTubers would read Fan-Made Wattpad stories, and those stories were 1000x better than this film was. They captured the horror and chills of cold, child butchery. And the satisfaction of a more than deserved revenge. In the FNaF Movie, blood and "gore" if you can even call it that made 3 or so appearances. And ALWAYS as a cosmetic or environmental additive. To show someone as deceased or something having happened not long ago to said person. So, two-bit "thriller" and friendship is magic paired with miniscule violence and absent horor come together and bring us to the ending. The antagonist caught and revenge "killed". And in no way is their death as satisfying or true to the game, it is slow and expected. In the games, even though it was a 2D 8bit style, it was still surprising to watch and see the antagonist's death. It was gruesome without there being a realistic gore aspect to it. So, what are my thoughts? It was a decent story, I actually enjoyed the story itself. But it WASNT the story I WANTED nor was expecting. It was terribly unsatisfying, and comparable to a sneeze that vanishes right before the release. Leaving your hopes unfulfilled. Especially as a die-hard fan who enjoys the VHS on YouTube today, and enjoyed in the past storytime YouTubers narrating Fan-Made literature. So, I give this film 2 stars. Just good enough to exist, but not good enough for me and my expectations. This isn't supposed to be a family friendly story with a Friendship hero cast. It's meant to be a horror, depicting the most tragic event any parent and any sibling could endure: the loss of a young kid or young sibling, with no closure and no justice.