Considering the relatively mediocre depths both the "Friday the 13th" and "Nightmare o Elm Street" franchises have sunken to in the past, this is quite the crowd pleaser, just so long as you know what to expect from a title like "Freddy vs. Jason".
Yes, the non-killer teen characters may as well have numbers instead of names and they seem to go out of their way to move the plot or offer themselves up for slaughter, but that's to be expected at this point and this movie isn't trying to reinvent the wheel. Instead, it tends to lean into its slasher trappings and embrace them in a fun, self-aware way that doesn't come off as annoying or pretentious like "Scream". After all, you watch this movie to see how they bring 2 of the biggest 80's horror icons to do battle in whatever form that takes. As far as that aspect is concerned, you definitely get your money's worth and not just in terms of a Mortal Kombat style deathmatch, but the clever ways the filmmakers use the characters' lore to actually draw them together in a "plausible" way that actually makes this a proper sequel to both franchises and doesn't feel totally disjointed for the sake of a one-off crossover. While this definitely shouldn't be anyone's introduction to either character, it also doesn't require an encyclopedic knowledge of the past 17 movies either.
For fans, this is loads of dumb, tongue-in-cheek fun with just enough of everything you love from Freddy and Jason (not least of which being a respectable body count)
Yes, the non-killer teen characters may as well have numbers instead of names and they seem to go out of their way to move the plot or offer themselves up for slaughter, but that's to be expected at this point and this movie isn't trying to reinvent the wheel. Instead, it tends to lean into its slasher trappings and embrace them in a fun, self-aware way that doesn't come off as annoying or pretentious like "Scream". After all, you watch this movie to see how they bring 2 of the biggest 80's horror icons to do battle in whatever form that takes. As far as that aspect is concerned, you definitely get your money's worth and not just in terms of a Mortal Kombat style deathmatch, but the clever ways the filmmakers use the characters' lore to actually draw them together in a "plausible" way that actually makes this a proper sequel to both franchises and doesn't feel totally disjointed for the sake of a one-off crossover. While this definitely shouldn't be anyone's introduction to either character, it also doesn't require an encyclopedic knowledge of the past 17 movies either.
For fans, this is loads of dumb, tongue-in-cheek fun with just enough of everything you love from Freddy and Jason (not least of which being a respectable body count)