Review: 'Five Nights at Freddy's 2' scraps together spare parts for a junky sequel

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Greenlighting a sequel to 2023’s “Five Nights at Freddy’s” — the mega-popular horror film based on Scott Cawthon’s hit video game franchise — was a no-brainer.After all, the first picture grossed nearly $300 million worldwide, despite mostly poor reviews and a day-and-date release on Peacock.

Propelled by a teen-friendly PG-13 rating and the game’s cultish fan base, it became producer Blumhouse’s most successful release, besting company record-holders such as “Get Out,” “Split” and 2018’s “Halloween.” But “no-brainer” takes on a dual meaning when it comes to “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2,” a laughably cheesy, empty-headed follow-up that makes the mediocre prior film shine in comparison.For the uninitiated, the first movie follows the career-challenged Mike (Josh Hutcherson), who lands a last-ditch job as overnight security guard at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, an abandoned Chuck E.Cheese-like joint.

Turns out, the place houses a group of homicidal animatronic mascots — bear Freddy, rabbit Bonnie, chicken Chica and fox Foxy — possessed by the ghosts of murdered children.Mike unravels the restaurant’s mystery with the help of Vanessa (Elizabeth Lail), an attractive cop whose father, William (Matthew Lillard), is revealed to be a serial killer with ties to Mike.

In addition, Mike must protect his withdrawn 10-year-old sister, Abby (Piper Rubio), from the mascots, whom she has weirdly befriended.With me so far?The sequel opens in 1982 at the original flagship Freddy’s location, a site never mentioned in the first film.There, a child named Charlotte (Audrey Lynn-Marie) is killed during a birthday party after attempting to warn a criminally dismissive group of parents that another youngster is missing.

We’re also introduced to Marionette, a powerful puppet said to control the other robots through some early form of Wi-Fi.(OK, whatever.)...