Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising

Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising is the sequel to the hit Neighbors. It appeared obvious this film was greenlit as a sequel since the original was such a hit. This film does feel quite different but has some same elements. Overall, the entire plot about the girls sorority feels a little forced and played too hard for laughs. The problem is the female characters in the sorority weren't funny and the running joke was very forced and long running. After a while, we get used to it but it was too much and the entire "feminism" agenda was very obviously pushed. We are supposed to have sympathy towards them but nothing was there.

There are some decent laughs but overall nothing completely original and funny. This sequel is somewhat disappointing and felt unneeded in the end. This was a major box office under performance compared to the original and it waved off any possibility for a sequel. Some decent moments but the entire film isn't as great.

I'll give this a 6/10 because it's still a solid high budget comedy starring some great talent.

The issue was too many jokes fell flat. The sorority sisters did not say or do anything I can remember laughing at.

The material was really weak. I love absurd random humor (Family Guy or basically any other Seth Rogen film), but some of the randomness in this film just lacked anything I found funny. Even worse, is that some of the randomness used in plot points really made you disconnected from the entire film and not care.

As I watched this film, I remembered how despite the shallow plot of Neighbors, I still loved it and it pulled me in. The fraternity was interesting and funny. In contrast, the sorority of Neighbors 2 lacked any good jokes. The sorority sisters actually managed to pull off something that no actors have ever done in all of history. They were so unfunny, they almost made Seth Rogen not funny.

On the plus side, It's only 90 minutes and I don't remember ever feeling bored or sleepy during the movie or wanting to walk out early. So for that this movie has earned a solid 6/10.

I'm serious, literally no one in the theater laughed. There were a very few chuckles but not a single laugh. The movie was like torture because they kept using the same joke over and over and over again. A joke that wasn't funny the first time it was used was delivered multiple times. The first Neighbors movie was funny, not the funniest movie made or anything like that but pretty funny. This movie is beyond lame. Remember when I told you they kept using the same jokes over and over again? There was literally a 10 minute timeframe in which the movie used the same joke about 5 times. Around that time I looked at my watch and saw that I was only 20 MINUTES INTO THE STUPID MOVIE! Basically, the problem with this movie is that it isn't funny and kept reusing the same jokes. They even use jokes from the original movie multiple times. It was just plain sad. Another thing, I think SETH ROGEN HAS BECOME THE NEW ADAM SANDLER. He keeps playing the same character in very single movie, and he has finally and completely wore out his welcome. This will be the final time I pay money to see a Seth Rogen movie. Another thing I learned is that Chloë Grace Moretz is officially an awful actress. Everyone loved her as Hit-Girl and ever since KickAss she has gotten a free pass from everyone (including myself) but in this movie we get to see a ton of her acting and it is like watching rejected scenes from a TWILIGHT MOVIE. You get sick of her after about 40 minutes. Man, I know everyone involved in this movie did it for a paycheck but I think it is ultimately going to hurt more than a few careers. I WARN YOU, SAVE YOUR MONEY AND DO NOT PAY A PENNY TO WATCH THIS MOVIE. IT SUCKS. You've been warned.

"Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising" (2016 release; 92 min.) brings the return of Mac and Kelly and their daughter Stella. As the movie opens, we see Mac and Kelly making love until Kelly she throws up on him. "I think I may be pregnant!" she cries out. We then move "4 Months Later", as Mac and Kelly have found a potential buyer for the house but now must go through the 30 days escrow period. In a parallel story line, we get to know Shelby, a freshman. She is rushing Phi Lambda. When she learns that the sorority cannot throw parties but instead must attend parties at the frats, Shelby and 2 new friends decide to start their own sorority, Kappa Nu, outside of the existing sorority system so they can do whatever they want. When looking for a sorority house, they end up next to Mac and Kelly (of course). At this point we're not even 15 minutes into the movie, but to tell you more would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: most of the crew and cast from the first movie have returned for the sequel, and hence we get Seth Rogan (Mac) and Rose Byrne (Kelly), but of course also Zac Efron as Teddy, doing the same old 'dumb jock' stud as in the first movie (with the required striptease of course). But the sequel benefits most from the addition of Chloë Grace Moretz in the role of Shelby, Moretz, the erstwhile 'child actress' (in Kick-Ass) is all frown up now, and has transformed herself into a leading actress, see also earlier this year's "The 5th Wave". As Shelby, she and her gals are all about grrrl power and equal rights, but in a fun and non-preachy way, and that helps the movie greatly. Yes, there is a lot of partying in the movie, but rarely in a way that is degrading for women. Keep an eye out for Lisa Kudrow as the university dean (she plays in exactly one scene) and Kelsey Grammar as Shelby's dad (also in all of one scene). Other than that, this movie doesn't intend to be anything other than a mindless entertaining sequel to the first one, and at that it succeeds. So enjoy it for what it is, nothing more, nothing less.

"Neighbors 2" is now in its second week of release, and the Memorial Day early evening screening where I saw this at here in Cincinnati was attended okay but not great. Probably the picture-perfect weather was a factor, but the truth also is that the sequel hasn't done nearly as well at the box office as expected. It's a bit of a surprise to me as this movie surely is truth-in-advertising: you wanted more of what you saw in the first movie? Well here it is. If you have seen the first movie and wonder whether the sequel is worth checking out, by all means give this once a chance, be it in the theater, on Amazon Instant Video or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, I think you will not be disappointed.

It's been years since the first "Bad Neighbours" movie. Question is did they really need a sequel? The plot is pretty simple, after a sorority (lead by Shelly (Chloë Grace Moretz)moves in next door, they decide to get help from their previous enemy Teddy Sanders! I'll get down to the negatives first, because I do like to always leave on a good note. This movie was filled with "sexist" and "double standards" and it's repeated over and over again. For example, there are loads of scene where you hear things like "We better not do that, because they're females. We only do that to men." There's comments like that throughout the entire film. It got old fairly quickly. The film is done exactly like the first one. They use the same jokes, the same ideas as before. I guess, for some it isn't a bad thing, but I personally wanted something new. Shelly (Chloë Grace Moretz's) character was all over the place. One minute she seemed liked this nice, beautiful, well respected girl who just wanted to start a party to feel good, then all of a sudden she turns into this evil, selfish, know it all person who just does not give a damn about anybody. They needed to decide who her character was from the start, not change her around halfway through just for the sake of being a bad neighbour!

There are jokes in there that do work as 2 examples of Seth Rogen making a trip to the Sydney Opera House in Australia or Jimmy's clown laugh. Rose Byrne gets into character really well yet again. She provides a few laugh out loud jokes. Zac Efron returns to help the neighbours and, of course to show off his body once again! All in all, there are a lot of good jokes in this movie, but there's also a lot that didn't work and could have been done better! All in all, it's a decent film, but I wouldn't pay to watch it again. 5/10 2/5 stars.