The movie poster for "Five Nights at Freddy's" the film. Photo Credit: Universal Studios
“Five Nights at Freddy's” is a video game series by Scott Cawthon released on August 14, 2014. The series consists of many video games set inside “Freddy Fazbear Pizzeria,” named after the restaurant's main mascot, “Freddy Fazbear.” On October 27, 2023, the long-awaited return of the series came, but not in game form. The “Five Nights at Freddy’s” movie has grossed over $217 million worldwide, a massive hit for Blumhouse Studios. However, the movie was highly criticized by critics and fans alike, receiving a 29% Rotten Tomato rating with a 5.5/10 rating on IMDb.
The ratings, however, do not in any way reflect the quality of the movie. The film had hyper-realistic sets, with a whole pizzeria being built for filming. The moviemakers also did an impeccable job bringing the game’s signature 8 foot animatronics to life, using surprising realism to illustrate how an animatronic would look alongside humans. However, this impressive detail does leave one question. If the movie has great visuals, why did it receive so much criticism?
A lot of FNAF enthusiasts complained that the movie did not correlate with the games. In the movie, Mike Schmidt and his sister, Abby, are in the Night Guard's office during Mike's shift as a security guard. During his shift, Mike falls asleep and dreams about his brother who was kidnapped while he was still a small child. When he awakes, Mike finds Abby playing with the animatronics. The animatronics go on to play and make a fort out of pillows with Abby.
Many fans didn't enjoy the friendly nature of the animatronics during this moment. This is mainly because they thought the animatronics should be in "kill mode" at all times. However, many fans need to remember that canonically, the souls trapped within the animatronics are young children. Therefore, it shouldn't come as a surprise to viewers when the robots play alongside someone in a similar age group that doesn't pose a threat to them or the pizzeria.
Many fans of the series need to also realize that the movie is separate from the “lore” of the games. Fans were angry that the souls of the animatronics appeared in Mike's dreams to help uncover where his brother went because this connection between Mike and the Souls was never shown in the video game series. However, the connection seen in the film was necessary to help build and later conclude Mike's internal struggles with the kidnapping of his brother. Even if these plotlines in the movie don't correspond with the games, the movie should be able to stand by itself without taking anything away from or contradicting the complex “lore” of the games.
Personally, I enjoyed the “Five Nights at Freddy's” movie. Although it was nothing that I was expecting, it was executed as perfectly as it could've been. It did an outstanding job showing Mike's struggles throughout the movie and tying the widely-loved animatronics into a complex story. All in all, the “Five Nights at Freddy’s” movie was an outstanding stand-alone film.
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