A Worthy Sequel to 2017's Thriller/Comedy

Kaleidoscope’s latest in on Universal’s & Blumhouse’s production of “Happy Death Day 2U”.  Directed & written by Christopher Landon, the movie stars Jessica Rothe, Israel Broussard, Phi Vu, Suraj Sharma, Sarah Yarkin, Rachel Matthews, Ruby Modine, & Steve Zissis.  Rated ‘PG-13’, it has a running time of 1 hr., 40 min. 

Poor Tree Gelbman (Rothe), she just cannot seem to get out of this ‘Groundhog Day’ series of time loops—as evidenced by the opening montage of the Universal logo.  The film opens a short time after the original.  The prologue focuses on friend Ryan Phan (Vu) who seems to be caught in the same ‘GD’ experience as Tree was in the 1st film. Transition to Tree & Carter (Broussard) who have become a couple.  Everything seems fine until they learn about Phan’s experiences.  From here, Tree starts to be drawn into her original daily loop.  After some time, Carter, Samar, (Sharma), & Andrea (Larkin) join Tree & Phan.  Additionally, Tree has learned that the original killer from the 1st film, Lori (Modine), has been murdered; she determines that she will have to find this new killer.  Phan, Samar, & Andrea have been working on a machine they call SISSY (Sisyphus—get it?—Quantum Cooling Reactor).  Besides using the machine to, hopefully, stop the time loops, Tree hopes to be able to find the new ‘Baby-Faced Killer’.  Act I ends here as the loops, incidents, reunions, etc. continue.  

Landon has crafted a worthy sequel to 2017’s original.  He directs with the same élan, pacing, & focus that he demonstrated before.  He has written a script that is very funny, is thrilling at times, & is, in parts, derivative, alluding, & original.  The derivative is the least of the latter 3.  While it is fun seeing Tree go thru her various machinations of handling with what she has previously dealt & the different forms of death, it does harken back a bit too much to the original.  What stands out, however, are the allusions to the ‘Back to the Future’ trilogy; i.e., SISSY resembling Doc Brown’s time helmet—albeit, on a much larger scale—& the characters verbalizing the titles of ‘Parts II & III’; etc.  What is original, at least for this new franchise, is Tree’s having to decide whether to stop the loop or stay in one of the alternate universes (shades of the CW’s ‘The Flash’) that are introduced in this new film—will doing so help her, help her late mom, help her find the killer, or any type of combination?  Landon has created many amusing/thrilling aspects to go along with this new track.  Rothe is outstanding as Tree; she perfectly captures the varied emotions that are part of this increasingly complex character.  In addition, Rothe reminds me of the late Lucille Ball; she is a beautiful young woman who is not afraid of appearing in any type of zany, screwball situation.  It is hoped that her film offerings will soon increase; she is the type of screen presence that we need.  Broussard continues his fine work as Carter; his expected range is expanded here, & he is up to the task.  Vu is very good too as his role has substantially been increased from the original.  Sharma (‘God Friended me’) & Larkin are capable accompaniments to Vu’s updated Doc Brown-style role.  Bear McCreary’s (‘The Walking Dead’) score is an excellent complement for what is on the screen as he has so wonderfully shown in his work on the AMC hit series.  Toby Oliver’s cinematography and Ben Baudhuin’s editing are capable & professional but do not exhibit anything that one has not seen before. 

I give “Happy Death Day 2U” 3½ out of 5 nuggets.  The film continues & expands on the thrilling/amusing premise created by Landon & Blumhouse in the original film.  Do not be like everyone else who left the theater when the end credits started, however.  Stay for the mid-end credits, & you will be awarded with an extra scene that sets up ‘Death Day 3,4U’.  You will not be disappointed.