This Review Reveals Minor Details About the Plot.
Happy Daze
Plot Overview
Bayfield University in the movie tries to keep abreast of science. In the nineteenth century radiant heat was investigated. It was thought that greenhouses were kept warm by the glass siding trapping in radiant heat. Science writer Alan Siddons in a chapter on “A Long List of Misconceptions” writes of that theory, “It is 19th century poppycock” (62.) "In reality, greenhouses merely suppress convective heating loss, preventing the heated air from dissipating. It is air that's trapped, not radiation; glass's response to infrared (IR) has nothing to do with it" (63.) (The movie “The Martian” shows Earth scientists having got wise to greenhouses staying warm from blocking convection, not radiation as was thought in the 1800s.) At Bayfield U. a woman is ignored who is trying to gather petition signatures to stop global warming. The students are enjoying a pleasant September day in 2016 Louisiana; they don't seem the least concerned about greenhouse gases causing the ocean to rise.
Dean Roger Bronson (Steve Zissis) approved the thesis project of Ryan Phan (Phi Vu) running an experiment in Quantum Mechanics Lab 1. He is trying to slow down time on a molecular level. Quantum science was formulated in 1911. We're up to the 20th century and beyond. However, when a power surge causes a blackout on campus, Dean Bronson decides to shut down the experiment and impound the device.
The surge had an unintended consequence disrupting the multiverse, briefly bridging two universes, and stranding a second Ryan in the first Ryan's one. Before they can close the loops and reseal the barriers, their device gets unplugged, and that puts co-ed Tree Gelbman (Jessica Rothe) “stuck reliving this day” again, her birthday Sept. 18, as she did in the first “Happy Death Day.” This is a better version of her life, however, tempting her to stay put as her classmates attempt to fix the timelines (“We're scientists. We solve the problem.”)
In 2016 Sept. 18. fell on a Monday, which means that Constitution Day, normally observed on Sept. 17, is observed the following day. By law any educational institution receiving federal funds is required to teach on the Constitution that day. The First Amendment allows “people … to … petition the Government.” That's what the woman was doing on the grass, gathering signatures. When Tree screamed at her and threw her petition on the ground, the woman responded that she could have just said no, thank you. Just because we disagree with a petition doesn't mean we stop being polite.
The Second Amendment for the sake of “A well regulated Militia” allows for “the right of the people to keep and bear arms.” When the police were too slow getting up to speed on an unknown serial slasher(s), the kids needed to convene an ad hoc militia to stop them, and for that they needed to be armed, somehow.
Constitution
Day used to be called Citizens Day as it honored citizens U.S. born or naturalized. The baby
face mascot of the sports teams was an allusion to the former. Academic
study of American insitutions by the latter was needed to be accepted
as citizens of the U.S. This
was alluded to by the prodigious study of Tree to be accepted as a
citizen of her preferred dimension. They used a trial and error method
on the quantum machine, and she had to recount the failed physics
algorithms so they wouldn't have to start over again when she reset
her day. Danielle Bouseman (Rachel Matthews) acted like a blind French
exchange student in order to distract the Dean while the others raided
his office for their machine. This reminds us that immigrants need
to learn English in order to be naturalized.
Ideology
One of the songs of Kenny Rogers concerned
a chance meeting with “The Gambler” on a train, who offered
the passenger the advice that “the secret to surviving is knowing
what to throw away and knowing what to keep.” Tree finds she
can't have it all. What she likes in her new dimension is offset
by what good she would lose in the old. She has a tough decision to
make. “Every hand's a winner/ And Every hand's a loser,”
says the gambler. Maybe the student scientists can still pull their
chestnuts out of the fire. The refrain of the song goes:
You've got to know when to hold 'em,
Know when to fold 'em,
Know when to walk away,
Know when to run.
You never count your money when you're sittin' at the table.
There'll be time enough for countin' when the dealin's done.
This wisdom of the gambling man's repartee is old as the hills and was passed on by a raconteur, Agur in Proverbs 30:1, whose four metaphors offered the same life advice as did Rogers's Gambler. That we find in, (Prov. 30:29-31) “There be three things which go well, yea, four are comely in going: A lion which is strongest among beasts, and turneth not away for any; A greyhound; an he goat also; and a king, against whom there is no rising up.”
We have Agur's “lion which is strongest among beasts, and turneth not away for any,” and we have Rogers's “know[ing] when to hold 'em.” We have Tree a college student who decides to memorize the failed algorithms as her memory is all that survives into the next iteration of her day. They don't want to start their trial and error back at square one. She can do it.
We have Agur's “king, against whom there is no rising up,” and we have Rogers's “Know[ing] when to fold 'em” A king who knows when to give in to his subjects doesn't experience any uprising. It's Tree's death at the hand of a masked slasher that resets her day, again and again. Rather than waste time trying to elude him, she decides to just take her own life when she is ready to go back. Okay.
We have Agur's “he goat also” and we have Rogers's “Know[ing] when to walk away.” Tree knows when to walk away from the dimension where she doesn't belong even though of itself it was the better environment.
We have Agur's “greyhound” and Rogers's “Know[ing] when to run.” While the dean was distracted in the faculty lounge our experimenters had to make a mad dash with his keys for his office to retrieve their quantum machine before he got wise.
The gambler gave the advice:
You never count your money when you're sittin' at the table.
There'll be time enough for countin' when the dealin's done.
It ain't over till the fat lady sings. Don't leave the theater before the end credits stop rolling; there's an additional scene.
Production Values
“” (2019) was a sequel to “Happy Death Day” (2017.) It was written and directed by Christopher Landon, the characters having been developed by Scott Lobdell. “Happy Death Day 2U” starred Jessica Rothe, Israel Broussard, Phi Vu-Logan, and Ruby Modine. Rothe and Broussard had a lot of good chemistry going as Tree and Carter. Rothe was superbly agile in her crazy portrayal of a girl whose college experience was more elastic than her orientation précis would have predicted.
MPAA rated it PG–13 for violence, language, sexual material and thematic elements. The special effects were awesome. Once that time machine started humming I didn't want to be anywhere near it. There was a cameo appearance of the “Creature from the Black Lagoon” (1954.) The pace was frenetic. You might want to review the first “Death Day” before seeing the second, because you won't have time to think it over once the ball starts rolling. The important factor is the characters found their own place in the plot soon enough.
Review Conclusion w/ Christian Recommendation
This one went quicker than the first, not letting the dramatic tension build up as much. Nevertheless, I liked it—I speak as an engineering grad. If you liked the first one, you'll like the second. Just don't blink.
Movie Ratings
Action factor: Well done action flick. Suitability for Children: Suitable for children 13+ years with guidance. Video Occasion: Fit For a Friday Evening. Suspense: Keeps you on the edge of your seat. Special effects: Absolutely amazing special effects. Overall movie rating: Four stars out of five.
Works Cited
Scripture is taken from the King James Version. Pub. 1611, rev. 1769. Software, Print.
Rogers, Kenny. Songwriter Don Schlitz. “The Gambler.” Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Pub. LLC. WEB.
Ball, Timothy, & Alan Siddons, Claes Johnson et al. Slaying the Sky Dragon: Death of the Greenhouse Gas Theory. Mount Vernon: Stairway Press, 2011. Print.
bibles.n7nz.org