Happy Death Day 2U Blu Ray Review (Universal/Blumhouse)
Happy Death Day 2U is a 2019 slasher film written & directed by Christopher Landon (Happy Death Day, Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse, Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones, & Burning Palms). It’s the sequel to 2017’s Happy Death Day. It was produced by Jason Blum (The Purge franchise, Insidious franchise, Get Out, Split/Glass, Happy Death Day, Halloween, & Upgrade) & Ryan Turek (MA, Truth or Dare, Mercy Black, & Unfriended: Dark Web) for Blumhouse Productions. The budget was $9 million & it grossed $64.2 million worldwide at the box office. A third film is being considered to follow up this sequel!!!!
College student Ryan Phan (played by: Phi Vu from Happy Death Day, Fist Fight, Logan, & Kickboxer: Vengeance) wakes up in his car on September 19th. He goes back to his dorm room, he walks in on his roommate Carter Davis (played by: Israel Broussard from Happy Death Day, The Bling Ring, Extinction, & Good Kids) & Tree Gelbman (played by: Jessica Rothe from Happy Death Day, Mary + Jane, La La Land, & Valley Girl). He is working on an experimental quantum reactor with Samar Ghosh (played by: Suraj Sharma from Life of Pi, Million Dollar Arm, Homeland, & God Friended Me) & Dre Morgan (played by: Sarah Yarkin from Foursome, Eat, Brains, Love, & American Horror Story). Dean Roger Bronson (played by: Steve Zissis from The Front Runner, Her, Bad Milo, & Jeff, Who Lives at Home) shuts down the project after it taking too long to produce results. It causes a power outage & Ryan is murdered by the Babyface killer! He wakes up & it’s September 19th again. He tells Carter about it & Tree being the expert on the bizarre situation agrees to help him out. Tree ends up getting on the same time loop as before on the 18th after revisiting this annoying nightmare. She must kill herself over & over until they solve this mysterious problem. Plus she has to deal with John Tombs (played by: Rob Mello from Happy Death Day, The Magnificent Seven, Bad Ass 3: Bad Asses on the Bayou, & Crazy Lake), Lori Spengler (played by: Ruby Modine from Happy Death Day, Shameless, Central Park, & Satanic Panic), Dr. Gregory Butler (played by: Charles Aitken from Happy Death Day, The Knick, Bonkers, & Sleepy Hollow), & Danielle Bouseman (played by: Rachel Matthews from Happy Death Day, Ms. White Light, & Looking for Alaska) all over with the worst case of deja vu ever. This leads to her experiencing more time with her mom Julie (played by: Missy Yager from Happy Death Day, Mad Men, My Own Worst Enemy, & Boston Public) & it causes her to re-think about going back. Can they do it again or is she trapped dying every day for the rest of her life????
Have you seen Happy Death Day? Then you pretty much already seen Happy Death Day 2U. It’s more of a remake than an actual sequel. That isn’t exactly a bad thing because Happy Death Day was so much fun & this follow up is easy to re-visit with so many familiar characters returning. It does have more of a science fiction feel to it with the time travel elements. So it kinda went from a slasher version of Groundhog Day to a slasher version of Back to the Future which is pretty damn cool. Jessica Rothe is very easy on the eyes & she’s great in these films. She adds extra humor to the role, the comedy here had the perfect balance with horror. The rest of the cast was solid, don’t expect any Oscar nominations or anything but they all had their own unique qualities about them. Not going to lie, I don’t like the Danielle Bouseman character & she had a bigger part here than the original, at least she is excellent eye candy. The Babyface killer stands out & I’ve always liked the look of the role especially compared to stuff these days. It had some hilarious & creative kills, it delivered on the goods for any slasher expectations. It’s awesome to see a horror franchise doing something different since most horror films are one & done in recent years. We need more of that in the genre. It’s not as good as the first film but it’s still lots of fun & very entertaining, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!!
Let’s talk about the high definition presentation from Universal! This 1080p (2.39:1) transfer looks great on blu ray. It has a nice atmosphere, slasher meets science fiction, & the locations really shine here. It has 3 different audio options which includes English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Spanish: DTS 5.1, & French (Canada): DTS 5.1 on the release. The dialogue sounds crystal clear, all the madness is elevated, & the music has a killer boost to it. It also has English SDH, French, & Spanish subtitles.
Let’s discuss the special features from Universal. A little over 2 minute “Gag Reel” featuring a variety of hilarious moments from the set. 1 “Deleted Scene” that runs a little over 2 minutes. “The Never-Ending Birthday” is almost 3 minutes. It has interviews with writer/director Christopher Landon, producer Jason Blum, actors Phi Vu, Israel Broussard, Jessica Rothe, & Ruby Modine. They chat about returning to the Happy Death Day universe & working on this follow up. They bring up the concept & why they decided to do it. They talk about the comedy being a bigger part in this & the science fiction elements added to the story. They mention all the familiar characters plus the new ones. “Web of Love: Tree’s Nightmare” is a little over a minute. It has interviews with writer/director Christopher Landon, actors Israel Broussard, Jessica Rothe, & Rachel Matthews. They chat about the new relationship with Carter & Danielle for this. They talk about how it messes with Tree’s character & she tries everything to bring stuff back to normal to change it. They bring up the different situations they deal with for their roles in this sequel. It has behind the scenes footage. “Multiverse 101” is a little over 2 minutes. It takes you through the time loop for the film & it explains it. As you can see, this blu ray is a little light on the extras but it’s still better than it being bare bones. It also includes a slipcover, a digital code, & a DVD copy of the release. It’s available everywhere right now, CHECK IT OUT!!!!
