Grown Ups 2 (2013)

Not even reached puberty

After moving his family back to his hometown to be with his friends and their kids, Lenny finds out that between old bullies, new bullies, schizo bus drivers, drunk cops on skis, and 400 costumed party crashers sometimes crazy follows you.


Before the film's even reached the two minute mark, a poorly Computer Generated Deer has urinated all over Adam Sandler. If that's your type of thing, than prepare to enjoy a retired basketball player urinating in a pool, a running gag of characters burping, sneezing and farting in sequence, David Spade having the hots for a very manly woman, an anniversary gift hidden inside a child's nappy and Nick Swardson taking more hits than a boxer. For everyone else, prepare to despair all together at the fact this made $245 million at the box office.

There really is no reason for Nick Swardson to be in this film. He has no impact upon the plot or upon any of the main characters, and seems to only be there to be everybody's punching bag and for the dog to have somebody to make out with. Little more can be said about Jon Lovitz, who seems to only be there to remind people he's still alive.

It really says a lot when the comedic attempts make for uncomfortable viewing more than they do for genuine laughs, and a lot of that is to do with how unnecessarily mean spirited it all is. One image that'll stick in your mind is that of a woman screaming at her four kids how she wishes she never had them. Is this really the image of comedy three writers had for this film? Yes, three writers, none of whom could craft something resembling a joke.

They must have really needed the money

Dennis Dugan seems intent with cramming many attempts at heartfelt moments and establishing a camaraderie between the many characters, but it all feels artificial and forced. Something that's baffling is how the writers and the director believe most of the characters should get their own subplot, and even give some characters more than one subplot of their own, making the film feel too busy and completely unfocused. The frat subplot especially feels unneeded and out of place, as if it was taken from a different film entirely, and that's before things descend into complete lunacy.

What's astounding is that Jurassic Park was released in 1993 with a budget of $63 million, while 20 years later, this film is released with an $80 million budget. While the effects don't take up much of the film, what is used is relatively poor, and pretty embarrassing.

One scene has college guys seductively washing Kevin James' car, and it felt like the kind of scene which could be construed as a smart attempt at doing a reverse on the typical objectification which you find associated with certain gender roles. But it's seriously doubtful this was the intention from the same writers who are guilty of a severe overuse of toilet humor. But I will give them credit for countering the ridiculously complicated handshakes which today's generation are guilty of with a simple handshake and a "How do you do".

Grown Ups 2 is a dire attempt at comedy which hosts poor attempts at acting, worse effects than a dinosaur film from 20 years ago had, an overabundance of subplots, an unnecessary mean spirited streak and somehow manages to go through 100 minutes of runtime without a clear plot actually emerging.