Film Review: Happy Death Day 2U

It would be difficult to accuse Happy Death Day 2U of being simply a rehash of its predecessor. The film is inventive and a lot of fun.

After breaking the loop, Tree thinks her nightmare is over. However, things are about to get a lot more complicated…

Written and directed by Christopher Landon, Happy Death Day 2U is a sequel to 2017’s Happy Death Day. Rather than follow the formula of the original film, Landon creates a different and expansive plot. The opening gambit works well to suggest more of the same, before turning the narrative on its head. 

Whereas the 2017 film fitted into the horror genre, albeit with a healthy dose of comedy, Happy Death Day 2U flips genres. The film has horror overtones to begin with, before turning into a sci-fi interspersed with comedy. Landon offers a rational explanation to the repeating cycle, and further explores the idea of multiple outcomes. The overt reference to the Back To The Future films underscores the franchise influence in both narrative and genre flipping. 

The film is inventive enough to secure the audience’s attention. Moreover the comedy works well for the most part. In adding a more emotional layer to the narrative, the film loses some of its spark. Although the sense of consequence is necessary, at times this is laid on a little thick. Most of the characters reprise their roles from the first film, with a few new additions. It is a shame that these new characters are not fleshed out, but the emphasis remains on the protagonist. Jessica Rothe delivers a wonderful performance as Tree, showing great range. Israel Broussard offers good support as Carter. Happy Death Day 2U insinuates gore without the need to show the most violent deaths. 

Happy Death Day 2U is smart enough to explore and expand the original film’s premise. The film is an entertaining and imaginative sequel.

Film Review: Back to the Future

With an excellent screenplay, perfect casting and a superlative theme song and score, it is not an overstatement to assert that Back to the Future is one of the finest films of all time. It is not a stretch to imagine the reaction of audiences in 1985; the film has retained that rare magic twenty-five years on.

After helping his friend Doc Brown with his scientific experiments, teenager Marty McFly is sent back in time, from 1985 to 1955. As well as trying to get back to the present day, Marty also has to ensure his parents meet as they should, otherwise there will be no future for him at all…

Back to the Future‘s script, by Bob Gale and director Robert Zemeckis, captures a dose of all the necessities in good measure. Part science fiction fantasy, part action comedy, the film also dips into the teen film and sprinkles a generous helping of retro kitsch. In amongst the plentiful humour is a real sense of peril; Marty’s quest at times seems unlikely to succeed, even though the idea of him failing is unthinkable. The pacing of Back to the Future is faultless; the film moves quickly enough to sustain interest, but at the same time allows sufficient space for character development.

The narrative is a paradox, being simple but also elaborate. Like many other 1980s fantasy and action films, Back to the Future follows a straightforward quest narrative and is linear in its structure. However, the time-travelling aspect is a little more complex than this. Such is the precariousness of Marty’s position, that one wrong turn could alter the fabric of history. Whilst the young protagonist attempts to cause as little damage as possible, at the same time he cannot help leaning on his knowledge of the future; introducing the 1955 contingent to Chuck Berry and Darth Vader, for example.

Michael J. Fox is perfectly cast as teenager Marty McFly. He exudes likeability and has great comic timing. Crispin Glover is excellent as Marty’s dad George in both 1955 and 1985. Christopher Lloyd, however, steals the show as Doctor Emmett Brown. He encapsulates the zaniness that makes the character so memorable.

Back to the Future features a now classic score by Alan Silvestri as well as the indelible theme song ‘The Power of Love’ by Huey Lewis and the News. As well as the music, there are a whole host of other elements that affirm Back to the Future as very much a product of the mid-1980s.

As a film that is itself concerned with nostalgia, watching Back to the Future on the big screen now is a hugely nostalgic experience for those who remember the eighties. For those who do not, the film is a paragon of the original, immensely entertaining and exceptionally popular blockbusters that appeared much more frequently in that decade than they do now.

Back to the Future has been re-released in cinemas to celebrate the film’s 25th anniversary.

Film Review: Hot Tub Time Machine

Perhaps the biggest achievement of Hot Tub Time Machine is that it cements Back to the Future as the quintessential time-travel movie. That’s not to say it is a bad film, merely that the influence of Robert Zemeckis’ 1985 classic is abundantly clear.

Oh, the 1980s. Such a wonderful decade. Adam (played by John Cusack) and friends inadvertently time-travel back to 1986, seemingly a year that fundamentally altered the course of their lives. The film follows the gang as they attempt to return to the present day without causing too much upset in as they run into old flames, friends, and enemies…

Hot Tub Time Machine is a very enjoyable film; the trailer does not illustrate some of the funnier moments in the film. The humour is a mix of parody, knowing references, and the gross-out comedy of films such as Animal House or American Pie.

Director Steve Pink does a good job of balancing this humour with more poignant moments that progress the film’s narrative. The allusions to other films are unmistakable, and Hot Tub Time Machine does the right thing in overtly mentioning some of them. The references stretch as far as casting, with Chevy Chase making an appearance, as well Crispin Glover, who appears in both the present and the past, in another nod to Back to the Future.

With an intertextual film that pays homage to the 80s such as this, it is surprising there is no covert reference to the fact that its leading man became a star in this very decade. Nonetheless, Hot Tub Time Machine works well to produce a feeling of nostalgia for those who remember the decade, and to offer a kitsch depiction to younger audience members well versed in 80s-retro  culture. Special kudos for the soundtrack too, which features an array of both well-known and cult 1980s tunes.

Sure, Hot Tub Time Machine is a corny film. The plot is predictable and the dialogue sometimes crass. But it is also extremely entertaining; surely the sole aim for a flick such as this.