Happy Death Day 2U is a good movie overall. There are a lot of major problems with the film, like the pacing, the twist, and lack of logic, but as a whole it does work as both a horror film and a comedy.

Two years after the events of the first Happy Death Day movie where a college girl named Tree killed her murderous roommate, Tree finds herself helping her friend Ryan after she learns that he’s been caught in a time loop that she has been in throughout the entirety of the first film.

It turns out that Ryan has been working on a time machine which has been the reason for the time loop in the first place. That is silly even for Happy Death Day. I’m sorry, I know they need an explanation to why this is happening, but it doesn’t make any sense whatsoever.

So Tree ends up helping Ryan stop his time loop and figure out who the killer is this time. Is this the plot? Nope.

It turns out through an accident Tree gets caught in an alternate reality where her boyfriend is dating someone else, her roommate is still alive and not trying to kill her, and her mother is still alive. So Tree tries to get the time machine to work while also trying to debate whether or not she should go back to her original reality. Oh, and by the way, there’s another killer wearing the exact same mask as the other ones! Yeah. Wow. What a coincidence that these three totally different killers would wear the exact same mask.

So, yeah the logic doesn’t make any sense. Also, the pacing is off. You can see why. I just described the story to everyone, so can you give me a short summary of what happens? No! It takes you three whole paragraphs to write about just explaining the plot!

By the way, there’s a really stupid twist that doesn’t tie in with any of the characters’ motivations. Like, at all. It turns out the killer the entire time was Tree’s former college professor! Wait what? What does that have to do with anything? He doesn’t want anything to do with the loop, he just wants to kill Tree’s roommate! What the hell? We’ve been waiting two whole hours for that! Trying to figure out who the killer is for two hours and learning that it’s just some geeky science professor? That’s like waiting two hours to find out who’s under Michael Myers’ mask and it turns out it’s a pony! That’s not a satisfying twist guys! What does it have to do with anything!

Okay, so I’ve teared this film apart enough. What’s good about it? Honestly, in a horror film, I think the comedy works. Whether it’d be that Tree suicide montage or the slow motion, or the reaction Tree has to all of the changes in her life. It’s actually pretty hilarious.

I should also mention Jessica Rothe as Tree. She is amazing. She gives a funny, bold, and emotional performance and I believe every second of it. She’s one of my favorite scream queens.

Tree is also a very likable character. She’s funny, impatient, and doesn’t always have the right answers. That makes for a really interesting main character.

Even the side characters, like the stupid dean, Tree’s boyfriend, her roommate, and yes, even the dumb twist villain each have a definite motivation and character.

So yeah, though Happy Death Day 2U has problems, I will give it credit that it did something new and inventive. You’d expect it to be a retread of the first one but it surprisingly is much better in some ways.

I still prefer the first Happy Death Day, but this one I respect more for taking more chances. In my book, Happy Death Day 2U gets a 7/10. Now, that may not seem like a great score, but for what it could’ve been, it’s a lot better.