Grown Ups 2: A Crass, Stupid, and Unfunny Sequel
Some time has passed since the events of the last movie, and our old friends are living in their cozy little town. Lenny (Adam Sandler) dreads the thought of having a fourth child, but his wife (Salma Hayek) is quite insistent. Eric (Kevin James) doesn’t know how to tell his wife (Maria Bello) that he loves visiting his mom. Kurt (Chris Rock) is happy – his wife (Maya Rudolph) forgot about their anniversary, so now he can guilt-trip her as much as he wants. Marcus (David Spade) learns that he has an 18-year-old son who’s coming to stay with him for the summer. But school isn’t over yet – there’s one last day of classes, which will end with a huge party at Lenny’s house.
The secret to the success of the first “Grown Ups” remains a mystery, known only to the millions of Americans who shelled out their hard-earned cash at the box office. What they saw in this flat, unfunny, and banal comedy is beyond comprehension – Adam Sandler has made far more deserving comedies. To Sandler’s credit, he didn’t immediately rush to churn out a sequel after seeing the $260 million box office haul. Instead, he honestly tried to make something else – first, the fairly charming rom-com “Just Go With It,” and then the disastrous “Jack and Jill” and “That’s My Boy,” which even his fans rejected. There was no other way, he had to gather the “support group” again for “Grown Ups 2.”
Box Office Success and Questionable Humor
The calculation proved correct in terms of box office – the film grossed even more than the first movie in its opening weekend, and it may well reach the achievements of its predecessor by the end of its run. And, fortunately, “Grown Ups 2” is slightly better than the original film – which doesn’t mean that people “off the street” can watch it without preparation. Suffice it to say that the film opens with a scene in which a deer urinates into Adam Sandler’s mouth, and one of the most “impactful” (according to the filmmakers) gags is the characters’ endless attempts to do a “burp-sneeze-fart,” a rapid-fire series of burping, sneezing, and you-know-what.
There are not just a lot of these toilet jokes in “Grown Ups 2,” but a whole lot, and many of them are not as harmless as they might seem – especially considering that the film’s age rating is still for children. Surprisingly, there are also a lot of sexual jokes – Sandler-style, crude, vulgar, and, unfortunately, mostly unfunny. Nevertheless, from about the middle of the film, it turns from completely unbearable to restrainedly amusing – if, of course, you manage to sit through to this turning point.
Redeeming Qualities?
As is often the case with Sandler, the secondary characters are to “blame” for this, among whom there are some very funny performances – Shaquille O’Neal and Peter Dante are good as the “partying” cops, Taylor Lautner and Milo Ventimiglia are good, portraying a couple of bully students with great drive, and Steve Buscemi, who always transforms beyond recognition in Sandler’s films, is clearly “letting loose” with pleasure. And jokes from the “so stupid it’s funny” series do occasionally break through. Just don’t take all this as a recommendation, more like the last words of a defendant sentenced to death.hokhlov