Starring: Adam Sandler, Christopher McDonald, Sunny Sandler, Benny Safdie, Bad Bunny,
and Julie Bowen
Directed by: Kyle Newacheck
| H |
Happy Gilmore 2 is finally here. Well before his phenomenal dramatic turn in films like Uncut Gems and Hustle, Adam Sandler was a bona fide comedy powerhouse. From his Saturday Night Live origins to his early comedy film classics like The Wedding Singer, Billy Madison, The Waterboy, and, of course, Happy Gilmore, Sandler always excelled at portraying the troubled but well-intentioned everyman who couldn’t quite get a break unless he somehow made it himself.
Many of his films often divided critics and audiences, but, at their best, Sandler’s movies allowed humorous catharsis in watching the bullied outsider look fortune in the eye and tackle it into a vat of Gatorade. It’s the kind of movie they don’t make often these days, or at least they don’t make them as good.
Happy Gilmore 2 is a charming, good-natured throwback that hearkens back to its predecessors, modernising a classic character to just the right extent.
30 years after the events of the original film, Happy Gilmore (Sandler) plots his golf return to put his daughter Vienna (Sunny Sandler) through ballet school. It’s a tough comeback for Hap, who has to get his mojo back on the course while evolving beyond unexpected personal difficulties. Making things more difficult is the emergence of a new, trendier competitor to classic golf: Maxi Golf, the brainchild of Frank Manatee (Benny Safdie), who hopes to upend golf with a younger, flashier, controversial rival. Happy has to find allies, old and new, to become a better version of himself, support his daughter and four rambunctious sons, and challenge the Manatee head-on.
Today is a hard era to make comedies in. And no, it’s not because of politics or more “woke” audiences, but because panic over box-office returns, the long decline of mid-budget movies, and studio pressures have made decent comedies harder to come by. That’s gratefully started to change, with successes like No Hard Feelings, Hitman, Girls Trip, and others, but there’s still a great need for funny movies that embrace absurdity and silly premises. Happy Gilmore 2 isn’t attempting to reinvent the game; in fact, it implicitly cautions us to embrace the classics in lieu of their trendy modern equivalents (at least with golf).
“Adam Sandler finds new layers in an older Happy. There’s much greater entertainment potential in following a well-meaning young angry man than there is in watching a guy in his ‘50s with said rage problems, so Happy Gilmore 2 is smart to find Happy new, more adult problems. It’s just close enough to maintain the nostalgia but fresher for an era three decades later, and Sandler steps into the evolved role well to find humour and pathos in the character.”
Adam Sandler finds new layers in an older Happy. There’s much greater entertainment potential in following a well-meaning young angry man than there is in watching a guy in his ‘50s with said rage problems, so Happy Gilmore 2 is smart to find Happy new, more adult problems. It’s just close enough to maintain the nostalgia but fresher for an era three decades later, and Sandler steps into the evolved role well to find humour and pathos in the character.
Beyond Sandler, it’s really an ensemble piece with cameos, throwbacks, and small roles that build an overall picture. Of the returning characters, Christopher McDonald is once again excellent as an older, more intense Shooter McGavin. Of the new additions to the cast, Benny Safdie is perfectly smarmy as the snivelling wannabe golf moderniser of the Mr. Beast/Jake Paul variety. Sunny Sandler is warm and has great screen chemistry with her on-screen and real-life dad, while Bad Bunny continues his knack for making small genre roles extremely memorable.
Admittedly, not every joke lands. The silliness is welcome overall, but some jokes do work better in the ‘90s than they might do today. On top of that, the pacing is uneven at times. Nevertheless, Happy Gilmore 2 is funny and has a refreshingly nostalgic novelty that doesn’t merely rehash the past, yet doesn’t lose it entirely, either. It evolves Happy (even if the setup is a tad contrived), but doesn’t lose what made the character an interesting watch. We revisit old characters and meet new, fresh ones with their own quirks. It isn’t perfect, but it’s a worthy successor to an Adam Sandler classic with memorable scenes and lines of its own.
Happy Gilmore 2 isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel. Like its predecessor, it’s delightfully silly, but now we’re in an era where those movies aren’t made as often and when someone tries, it’s a 50/50 chance they land it. Happy Gilmore 2 is a solid return to the kind of film that, honestly, there should be more of.
Some jokes run too long, don’t land, or could use another draft. It’s a constant stream of cameos, which is overall fun but sometimes a little distracting. But, at its core, the sequel is a good-natured charmer about a troubled everyman who is trying hard to grow up without losing himself in the process, and it gives us a lot to laugh about on the way. What more can you ask for?
– Courtesy: Collider.com