“Happy Death Day 2U” (PG-13)

It’s “Groundhog’s Day” meets the slasher movie genre all over again with “Happy Death Day 2U,” the sequel to the surprise hit “Happy Death Day” in 2017. The premise for the first film was no doubt clever, as murdered college student caught in a time loop has her day reset over and over again until she was finally able to thwart her masked killer.

“Happy Death 2U” once again examines the concept, as the student, Tree Gelbman (Jessica Rothe) finds herself back in the time loop thanks to her friend’s quantum physics science experiment.

As a result, Tree is brought back to the deadly day she was stuck in in the first film, but because she’s landed in a different dimension than she was in the first time around, the circumstances of her “Happy Death Day” are much different – bringing her an entirely new mess to get herself out of.

AUDIO: Listen to Tim reviewing “Happy Death Day 2U” with Tom Barnard on the “The KQ Morning Show” (segment begins 5:30 in).

Essentially, “Happy Death Day 2U” is the same film as the first one, but is told from a different vantage point. Some the twists are clever and some of them are confusing, while some of the situations are funny and others are outright stupid.

One saving grace of “Happy Death Day” is a smart if not poignant look at how people’s paths are shaped by major events in life, both good and bad, eventually spelling out how some things were simply meant to be.

While “Happy Death Day” isn’t nearly as good as the original, it’s entertaining nonetheless and a day worth watching unfold.

Lammometer: 7 out of 10

Tim Lammers reviews movies weekly for The KQ92 Morning Show,” “KARE 11 News at 11” (NBC), WCCO Radio, WJON-AM, KLZZ-FM, “The Tom Barnard Podcast” and “The BS Show” with Bob Sansevere.

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