Of all the movies out there, especially comedies, that we felt deserved a sequel… Grown Ups would not be anywhere near the top of the list. It was evident from the first Grown Ups 2 trailer that the humor factor could be even higher than the first time around. What if our Grown Ups 2 review surprisingly finds that the second film has far more laugh-out-loud moments than the first? By golly, it does.
Grown Ups seemed like an excuse for Adam Sandler, with his Happy Madison production company, to get his friends together and spend the summer making a movie. When it hit big in 2010, nobody had to be more pleasantly surprised than Sandler -- as well as his troupe of merry men, led by Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade and Rob Schneider.
So when news arose that Sandler, who previously has strayed away from the institution known as the sequel, was making Grown Ups 2, shoulders shrugged. It’s not that the first film wasn’t that good -- it just seemed like the odd movie to bring everyone back and continue their story. But, what we do see in Grown Ups 2 is a story of grown men who supposedly don’t want to grow up. In fact, they learn that they have… and that’s OK, and pretty funny.
With the concept that Sandler’s big-time Hollywood agent has moved his family back to his hometown for a more “normal” upbringing, potential already exists for malarkey meets message. Plus, and I cannot believe I’m writing this, but the addition of Nick Swardson to the pack of good-natured misfits only adds to the comedy canon.
Although the plot hardly matters in a film like Grown Ups 2, it has the skeleton of one. Sandler and his wife, Roxanne Chase-Feder (Salma Hayek), have moved to the smaller town where he grew up and away from Los Angeles. That has reunited him with his buddies on a more permanent level than we saw in the first film. The ease with each other is still there and the off screen friendships of the cast permeate every frame of the film. But, let’s be real...
At its heart, Grown Ups 2 prides itself on being a comedy. The film is the rare funny fest where all the best jokes are not featured in the teasers. This is saying something.
The movie is fine for families as there are plenty of jokes for kids as well as adults. And besides, how often will we get to see theTwilight Saga star Taylor Lautner play a complete ass and kill it? Well…
