Stupidness getting stupider somehow makes it better.
Not only was I expecting to hate Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising, but I kinda wanted to. I wanted a chance to get all my pent up anger and frustration out in a gorgeous scathing review. But dammit, it was a fun movie.
They managed to pick out the few great things from the first movie: ridiculous jokes, general silliness and most importantly, Zac Efron with his shirt off, and multiply them. As for the worst part of the first film, all the stuff about being in a new marriage and couple drama, it is totally gone. Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising made the right choices to be a movie that knew it was stupid and just didn’t care making the jokes push enough boundaries to keep it interesting.
For the first 5-10 minutes though, the movie was horrible. There was an awkward sex scene, ridiculous hot sorority girls, disgusting partying guys. Then the movie switched from your average college party scene to three girls in a dorm room talking about how “rapey” a frat party feels and I reluctantly started to enjoy myself as they pushed all my feminist buttons. No! Don’t make me like this movie by using girls fighting for the same rights as boys… noooooooo!!!!
I’m not going to bother going in to the plot. You know it, it was completely predictable. Pranks back and forth, surprise gross-out laughs. The stodgy old people start to win, then lose, then are they going to win? So much tension! (or no tension at all). Mac Radner (Seth Rogen) and Kelly (Rose Byrne) are horrible parents, or are they? blah, blah, blah.
This is what you need to know. The plot is dumb and many of the jokes are predictable and/or disgusting and the movie often relies on shock value and gross-ness for laughs. But there is a lot of Zac Efron with his shirt off and enough silliness and progressiveness to keep it from turning into something disgusting and boring.
All you really need to ask is do you like Seth Rogen and Zac Efron? Do you like seeing random good comedy actors from other shows/movies you love? Then this movie will be fun for you. If not, don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Did I mention Zac Efron takes off his shirt a lot?
Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising opens today, 5/20/16
