Happy Gilmore 2

I love Adam Sandler movies and I really wanted to love this movie. Sadly it's just not great. Shooter, Happy, and Hal L have bright spots but most of the jokes fell flat and the pacing was all over the place. The best way to describe this movie is a recycling of all the memorable jokes from the original but with worse delivery. Unfortunately Carl Weathers passed away so the story had to be rewritten. I would've rather seen a more grounded story with less cameos. The Sandman is still the GOAT and I'll watch every movie he makes.

40 minutes in, and this was looking very good. Similar beats to the original, with great cameos and multiple laughs. Sandler eases back into Happy like it's 1996, and familiar faces are everywhere.

But suddenly, things take a wild turn, and we are stuck in a bonkers sequel with no semblance of reality or cohesion. It is so bonkers that much of the last hour is indescribable.

Essentially Happy needs to raise money again to send his daughter to ballet school. He has to return to golf, which is being hijacked by a gingivitis addled fruit loop with grand plans to turn golf into MTV x XFL.

I didn't expect much, but was pleasantly surprised early on, particularly with Happy's hilarious buffoon sons. Unfortunately, we are left with another Zoolander 2 style debacle. 5/10.

I just watched Happy Gilmore 2 on Netflix

I love the first movie (it's my favourite Sandler movie), and I have been cautiously optimistic for this one.

And it was a massive let down. After a serious WTF moment in the first three minutes and the following ten minutes, where we see all Happy achieved in the first movie undone, there are not a lot of laughs. In fact I don't think I laughed once. I smiled a couple of times, but that was it.

Julie Bowen, Christopher McDonald and Ben Stiller all return (with varying amounts of screen time) as do a host of people from the first movie, Sandler regulars and some pro golfer's

Adam Sandler's daughter, Sunny Sandler, plays Happy's daughter Vienna, his wife plays her dance teacher, his other daughter Sadie Sandler plays someone Happy meets at an A. A meeting, Haley Joel Osment and Margaret Qualley are also here

It relies a lot on nostalgia, with plenty of flashbacks and callbacks. The new Happy place made me smile, I wasn't bored and it was nice to spend time with some of the characters again and I enjoyed what they did with Shootst, but overall this was a let down. I wanted to like it, so much more.

I said, "so stupid," several times while watching Happy Gilmore 2. But I was laughing while I said that. So I can't even be mad at it. Comedy is subjective and some people will see this stupidity and cringe or roll their eyes. But it made me laugh repeatedly. And that's all I really care about with comedies.

Aside from the humor, so much about this movie shouldn't work. It's what people criticize as the problem with sequels and reboots these days. There is a huge focus on nostalgia and recreating moments from the original. There are tons of cameos and callbacks.

I can't explain why, but these usual problems somehow feel like they belong. Maybe it's the era this harkens back to. It doesn't feel forced even though it absolutely is.

I can't say this is a good movie, but in an age of comedy movie extinction, I had a good time with it.

(1 viewing, 7/27/2025)

Happy Gilmore is a '90s Adam Sandler classic I've always enjoyed. It's dumb, quotable, and endlessly rewatchable. Naturally, I was a bit skeptical going into Happy Gilmore 2, worried that Sandler's more recent comedic style might clash with the tone of the original. And in some ways, that's exactly what happened. While I didn't dislike this sequel, it definitely feels like a very different movie, tonally, structurally, and humor-wise.

The film opens with Happy in a drunken slump, with his golf career long behind him. When his daughter expresses a dream of attending dance school, he decides to return to the sport in hopes of funding her future. It's a sweet enough premise, but the first ten minutes quickly flip that setup on its head in ways I won't spoil. The plot choices are a bit odd, but the movie earns some goodwill with consistent, if not groundbreaking, laughs. It's not nearly as sharp or funny as the original, but I found myself chuckling and eye-rolling in equal measure.

Where Happy Gilmore 2 really falters is in its overuse of nostalgia. Flashbacks, legacy characters, celebrity cameos, recycled jokes, and mirrored scenes bog things down. That said, a few callbacks do land and feel earned. The movie also tries so hard to appeal to a modern audience that it occasionally slips into absurdity. Benny Safdie plays Frank Manatee, a new rival character, and while I liked the performance, the storyline surrounding him goes completely off the rails. The climax, in particular, felt like something straight out of a video game. Loud, flashy, and wildly over-the-top.

Still, it's clear Sandler had fun making this, and his energy is infectious at times. Christopher McDonald returning as Shooter McGavin is a highlight, though his subplot takes some weird turns. Honestly, everything about this sequel is weird. It's darker, stranger, and only loosely connected to what made the original so beloved. Despite its flaws, there's just enough here to have a halfway decent time. Happy Gilmore 2 is now streaming on Netflix.