Many adults are complaining about this movie. Is it that bad?
Over the past 15 years, indie video games have taken over. A quick Google search suggests it all started with Braid in 2008, and the rest was history. It’s no secret that Minecraft is a pop culture phenomenon, that you probably played Among Us at a Zoom party with friends, and that there is a pretty awesome Cuphead adaptation on Netflix. Gamers nowadays order their games on Steam and Roblox rather than the local Arcade or rent at a video store like the good old days.
Additionally, another thing has taken over, that’s YouTube. In contrast to what we did on Saturday mornings and weekday afternoons, our kids watch video-sharing platforms for entertainment. So it was about time a “YouTuber” would get viral over analyzing an indie video game. The Internet personality is MatPat, and the game is Five Nights at Freddy’s, the independent game turned motion picture this past weekend.
What’s about?
FNAF’s film adaptation follows a troubled man named Mike (Josh Hutcherson) who’s desperate for work and agrees to take a position as an overnight security officer at an abandoned theme pizzeria. Once the story moves forward, everything stops making sense, and the film tries to adapt the game’s lore to a movie. Most video games are due for the same reasons. They’re tricky in terms of storytelling.
We find out from the start that Mike is obsessed with his brother getting kidnapped. That’s a good start, but we don’t know why he’s taking care of his young sister, where are his parents, and why his aunt is an evil woman who wants take care of his sister Abby. Matthew Lilard’s as Steve, the shady job headhunter, could’ve saved the film. But he’s not there enough, and his character doesn’t reveal his motives effectively.
Everything is just there. This movie is just there for people to see if they like the games. My two stepkids explained to me the plot and the lore surrounding the video game way better than this terrible movie itself did. And they liked it. They enjoyed the modern mythos surrounding these characters. While I was bored, all the kids were having a blast and then excited about the potential sequels.
I was scared. I poop my pants!
Random kid in the theater.
Fun for Gen-Z kids.
Back to MatPat, the theater was as excited as any previous reveal in an MCU movie when the well-liked “theorist” appeared on the screen. And everyone understood the “it’s just a theory” joke. Other cameos were CoryxKenshin, 8-bitRyan, and Baz, and I can’t write them as I’m cringing at their names.
In conclusion, a movie based on an indie video game, with YouTubers having cameos and lore discussed on Reddit, is a Gen-Z movie. And that’s OK. We had fun at the Cineplex. It’s now their turn.
