By Mark Saldana
Rating: 1 (Out of 4 Stars)
I received some grief from friends and fellow critics for actually enjoying the first Grown Ups and for giving it a favorable review (3 Stars). The humor in that Happy Madison movie is juvenile and sophomoric, but what can I say? It made me laugh. I do acknowledge that the film barely has a story and serves mainly as a showcase for the comic improvisation of the cast. That said. Here I am three years later and writing a review for Grown Ups 2. This time around, my review is anything, but favorable as I am giving it my lowest rating. In fact this may be my lowest rated movie for this year. There really is not much to say about this sequel, and as a result, I will keep this review fairly short and to the point. Grown Ups 2 is abysmally horrible and I honestly cannot recommend this film at all.
Like the first film, this sequel follows the lives of a group of best buddies coping with the trials and tribulations of marriage and parenthood. Lenny Feder (Adam Sandler) has moved his family from Los Angeles to his hometown, and even though life is somewhat simpler, life has a way of keeping things interesting. On the last day of school, Feder and his buds help their kids deal with bullies and dating, but must also contend with their own bullies in the form of a local college fraternity.
Written by Fred Wolf, Adam Sandler and Tim Herlihy, this screenplay was made into a movie because Sandler and his comedy buddies Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade, Nick Swardson and others still manage to attract audiences to the cinema. If this script had not been written by Sandler and his associates, and Sandler’s friends hadn’t agreed to star in this poor excuse of a film, it probably would have been thrown in the trash. Except for a couple of moderately funny moments, this movie has nothing to offer except painfully unfunny scenarios and the bare bones of a story.
I find it so incredibly frustrating that a once talented comedian like Adam Sandler settles for cheap and ridiculous attempts at humor and that he insists on bringing his friends down with him. I am seriously hoping and praying this movie bombs hard, because I honestly don’t know what it would take for Sandler to wake up and stop making horrendous comedies. The first Grown Ups film has to be the last Happy Madison movie of Sandler’s that I actually liked. Since then, his company has produced nothing, but unfunny crappy movies.
I also blame his friends like Dennis Dugan, who usually agrees to direct his films and his cast James, Rock, Spade, and the usual assortment of Happy Madison regulars who act as enablers. The only way that Adam Sandler will stop producing crap is if people would just stop buying tickets. This is my plea to the movie audiences of the world. STOP IT! PLEASE STOP PAYING TO SEE HAPPY MADISON MOVIES!!!!! Adam Sandler is better than this, and his friends, hangers-on, and the movie audiences across the globe are not helping whatsoever. It is never too late to start anew and rebuild one’s career. Then again, it might be possible that I am giving Adam Sandler way more credit than he deserves.