Y2K

If you're familiar at all with the writer/director, Kyle Mooney from his work on SNL, he often parodies TV shows and cartoons of the 90's.and is frankly hilarious.

This movie, however wasn't a parody of the 90's, it simply takes place there, which I feel was a missed opportunity.

The one thing I did like about this movie was the strong nostalgia elicited. To his credit, Mooney does a thorough job of casually referencing just about every major 90's technology/song/slang/fashion etc that I could think of..

Short of that, the plot and characters were lacking and forgettable. There wasn't the snappy or clever dialogue of similar films like Superbad.

Verdict: If you are an early millennial (like myself), you might have a bit of fun spotting the numerous 90's references but don't go in expecting laughs.

FYI, I would highly recommend checking out some of Kyle Mooney's work on SNL. His corny 90's parody sketches make me laugh every time.

This is one I was looking forward to for a while and I had reasonable expectations for it. However what it ultimately became was kind of forgettable.

Pros.

The humor can really be on point here and there and there is a really good chemistry between the two leads. The best friend dynamic was really on point, with some Super Bad vibes. The aesthetic was also on point, as someone who was in high school during this period, they nailed it. There was some good side characters that really helped pull the weight of the film. Also some death scenes were funny.

Cons.

The story seemed so good at the beginning, it really set up the characters and world nicely but if you were expecting the fun times that the trailer teased, you will be disappointed. After the initial shock of Y2K begins, it really comes undone. There is a main character that dies and it just didn't feel warranted, at least not yet. Then another death of a main side character happens almost immediately afterwards for comic effect and its really funny but doesn't work overall because of the previous death needed more time to sink in, or not happen at all. So two of the funniest characters are dead in like 30 mins... Not a good sign of things to come.

Then the characters just roam around with some side characters that were not the focus before but move into the spot light and it distracts from the main characters plight. Speaking of, he is just so bland and uninteresting that I couldn't care about him or his Crush(Laura) who also was bland, and they try so hard to make us like her but I couldn't.

Combine this with a wasted cameo towards the end and a blah ending and this movie absolutely falls apart and wishing it made good with what the movie the trailer promised. Also the acting is very hit or miss.

Overall, it's pretty forgettable but maybe it can be revisited for nostalgia, much like the movie. So meta.

5/10.

This could have been good. The concept is there, you have a cast that was willing to put themselves in goofy situations and obviously the budget to create something memorable. What went wrong? The limp direction and the forced screenplay.

Firstly, the acting is awful. Not because of the cast, but because the screenplay is written with so many hamfisted jokes thrown in that it gave the actors little room breathe, not to mention these are not traditionally comic actors. Felt bad for the leads, because I know they are capable of much more than this.

Secondly, the script needs more work. Nobody talked like this in the 90s. You got the references and the slang, but none of the delivery. Not a single bit of dialog felt natural to the scene. The comedy only works maybe a quarter of the time because the jokes are so sudden and forced.

Thirdly, where is the shock value? For a movie like this to work, there needed to be more shock. A bit more graphic violence, maybe a bit more nudity. Something to make me say "Whoa!". It felt tame for the subject matter and general feel of the film. Should've taken the murderous robot scheme further.

Overall, it was trash. Unbelievable, not funny and childish. I would only recommend watching it if it's free on streaming and you have absolutely nothing else to watch on a rainy afternoon.

1 brain implant out of 5.

The defining feature of Y2K is it's rather startling accuracy. They included all of the details, even some you might have forgotten. I think this has a low score because it's TOO realistic. This is a lot like being young in the 90s and early 2000s with a dorky intensity that may not appeal to the Zoomers or Alphas who are a similar age in 2025 and want some ultra-sick year 2000 aesthetics that only existed in media. I can just see their bored and confused looks of disapproval from a distance.

It's a fun watch. This is a comedy way more than a horror movie and it won't be a meaningful experience for anyone over 50 or under 35.

Trailer looked awesome, but trailer makers know what they are doing! They sold it!

The filmmakers, failed. On every level.

This is such a bad film, I had to review. I've only come on here 4 or 5 times to review a film over 20+ years and review when a film is so bad, it deserves no recognition or success. It's just horrific.

No redeeming features at all. Terrible acting, terrible set pieces, poor direction and writing, and a woful silly story that could have been ace, had it been executed correctly. Kills were quick and also pointless, deaths not scary or gory, and so so painfully unfunny.

Also, Fred Durst. It's a no from me. Unsure who this is aimed at, but it's not anyone from 1970-2010.

Trash.