It is 2019, and the announcement of the sequel to “Happy Death Day,” which was released in 2017, sparked excitement to many teens and young adults. The movie is produced by Jason Blum through Blumhouse Productions. Blum is an active producer of several top thriller movies including, but not limited to, “Halloween” (2018), “Truth or Dare” (2018), “The Purge” (2013), and currently in theaters, “Us” (2019).

Produced by Christopher Landon, who also produced the “Paranormal Activity” movie series and “Happy Death Day” (2017), “Happy Death Day 2U” was definitely good when it comes to tying up loose ends and portraying itself as a comedic sci-fi film, but it is definitely not the best movie under the genre “Mystery/Slasher.”

To start off, when I first walked into the theaters, because of the perspective of the trailer, I assumed the main character of the movie would be Ryan Phan (actor Phi Vu), who had a small part in the first movie and also acted in other movies like “Logan” (2017). However, “Happy Death Day 2U” takes place directly where “Happy Death Day” left off, starring the same actor, Jessica Rothe, better known as Tree Gelbman in the movie.

Compared to the first movie, this one had much more alluring elements that really helped with character development and the element of surprise, leaving no room for dullness or boredom.

Also, this sequel is, in my opinion, dramatically less scary than the first one. The first movie encompasses a comedic horror kind of genre, but this one is more comedic mystery-wise. A lot of the death scenes are cut out, and the main character, Tree, is not afraid of dying, unlike the first movie. To add to this, the soundtrack of the movie produces mostly comedic settings. The movie becomes progressively more amusing as it goes on since every time Tree dies, she becomes more humorous, another reason why this movie is comedic.

Aside from the movie’s genre, this movie as a whole is mostly about the same thing as the first, but instead, “everything is different this time.” (Tree). We now know what caused the magical re-awakenings after dying: A science experiment interrupted the time loop for Tree, leaving her, again, on her birthday, and finding the killer.

To summarize, unlike the first movie, “Happy Death Day 2U” is not as true to the genre it portrays. It is not really a slasher, but a sci-fi, comedy-like movie, incorporating time loops and multiverse elements. To me, this was more interesting rather than just seeing someone getting killed over and over again. Also, the acting and dialogue were pretty on point, although with some cringe here and there whenever Tree has a deep conversation with Carter Davis (actor Israel Broussard). Like all her other movies, Rothe acted exceptionally well, which is definitely a major factor for the movie to go interestingly and smoothly.

Overall, the trailer and genre were misleading, but the movie was great! I would recommend watching or rewatching the first movie, “Happy Death Day,” before, however. “Happy Death Day 2U” is not scary at all and incorporated a lot of humor into it. For those who already watched the first movie, I recommend watching the second one because it helps ties up the some loose ends and clarifies others!