Still Waiting...

Rarely is a sequel better than the original but this movie honestly wasn't as bad as the majority of reviewers claim. It's basically what you'd expect from a sequel to Waiting... I didn't even know the movie existed until today so I figured I'd give it a try. Compared to a movie like Neighbors 2, you'd think this movie was directed by Spielberg.

If you've ever worked in a restaurant, then you probably already know that "Waiting..." was perhaps one of the best stress relievers for the job. From the rude, dehumanizing customers, to the sick-minded line-cooks, right down the melodramatic wait-staff, it covered all the bases. And most importantly, it was hilarious front to back and was good for many a repeat viewing. What you may or may not be aware of, though, is that a direct-to-DVD sequel has just been released, simply titled "Still Waiting..."

Written by Rob McKittrick, who also wrote and directed the first film, "Still Waiting..." is really just more shenanigans at the fictional "Shenaniganz" restaurant. Like your typical food-service job, the faces always change, which is convenient, because for this installment, big names like Ryan Reynolds, Anna Faris and Dane Cook couldn't be pulled. Aside from a wealth of cameos and bit parts from the rest of the cast of the original flick, this one is filled with all new characters. The film walks a fine line, trying to service it's original audience by cramming as many characters from the previous film in, as well as establishing and developing a whole new cast. Unfortunately, in the case of the new cast, it doesn't pan out so well. Some of the characters work, but are under-developed, such as Tania Raymonde in the role of Amber, or even the slightly larger role of John Michael Higgins as Dennis. Elsewhere, though, the characters serve either a cheap punchline, or are otherwise recycled from the first film. It's sad that a new film with an all-new cast is only enjoyable when players from the last one drop by for a visit. This new cast of characters is, for the most part, bland, unlikeable, unfunny and just plain useless.

Thankfully, the film is still enjoyable, if not a bit redundant. Luis Guzman, Chi McBride, David Koechner, Rob Benedict, Andy Milonakis, Max Kasch and Vanessa Lengies all return, but it is Alanna Ubach -- reprising the role of the in-conquerable Naomi -- who really steals the show. Thankfully, she's a big character in the film, and if it weren't for her return, this movie wouldn't be half as great as it is. Justin Long, pops in briefly to drag down the mood, but to also take a jab at the character he played in the first film, as well as any other film he's been in. Think his character in "Zack & Miri Make A Porno" but more depressed. No doubt, the film is filled with plenty of food-service in-jokes and enough gross-out humor to satisfy, even if it drops the ball on telling an interesting story with it's new characters. Thanks to a returning cast, as well as solid direction by Jeff Balis (who served as a producer for the first film), "Still Waiting..." is a worthy refill. It's nowhere near as potent as "Waiting..." but in comparison to other DTV fair, it's worth watching, if not owning. There's still enough on the menu for those who crave a nice, nasty story revolving around a restaurant, and to that end, it holds up. Definitely in the spirit of the first one, just missing a few crucial elements to make it a classic.

This movie spooked me out to get my act together before it's too late. The only other movie that had done that recently was Joker. It's scary living in this world. I guess it got better, but I wouldn't recommend becoming a waiter based on this movie.

It was a decent effort though. Once you got comfortable, there were hot girls. Same vibe as the first movie. Hooters makes an appearance. So does Andy Milonakis. Struggles of life and becoming a better person. Finding a woman etc.

Nice. Worth a watch some random night maybe.

6 stars

It may not be the greatest of sequels, but it's still very watchable.

Still captures the atmosphere of working at a restaurant very well although this sequel is only a former shell of it's original self. They do a nice job bringing back some old characters which is nice because the whole point of "Ta-Ta's" seemed pretty absolutely pointless.

Much like the first one there really isn't a main plot but to capture the everyday life of servers in the restaurant environment. Except this time there is a competing (but not really) hooters knock off restaurant next door with a new crew.

Nevertheless, this movie is about average to above average just depending of how critical you want to be of the first film with comparing it to this one.

If you work as a server and found the first movie to be enjoyable, you might as well watch this one. If not, don't expect much.

This movie basically took everything that was good about the first one and made it less interesting and engaging. The cameos was okay just not that great and sort of pointless with the return of some the cast from the first movie, in fact this sequel is pointless. Rob McKittrick the writer for the film even admitted he had no idea what to write about for the plot, the first movie didn't really have a plot but this one was just way more random and ridiculous and just too over the top. In fact Rob if you see him in the behind the scenes is a dick himself and one cocky guy after a decent success of his first movie. The first "Waiting.." was great because it is something that a lot of people that worked in a restaurant can relate with, this isn't the case for the sequel. So it basically continues the adventures of the waiting staff at Shenaniganz restaurant after two years later, except now they are having sort of a competition with the new Ta-Ta's Wing Shack restaurant where some of the old team members work now, which is basically like Hooters or Twin Peaks. They got the team members from the first movie back but not all of them and the new team members in the restaurants isn't as likable. As a matter of fact they don't have the two main actors from the first movie that took the spotlight back, which is Monty(Ryan Reynolds) and Floyd(Dane Cook). And basically replaced Monty with Agnew(Stever Howey) who is a dick in real life and in the movie as well, but he isn't a likable dick like Ryan Reynolds was, but I will admit his stereotyping jokes were actually kinda funny. The first movie had a lot of toilet humor and stuff was just random, and there is a lot of toilet humor in this one as well but it just isn't as engaging or as entertaining. Chris Williams is sort of a replacement of Floyd, but just comes off as a prick that should have had something bad happen to him at the end. It was interesting to find out that Mason and Agnew is real people and Rob took down the stupid stuff they said and got it into writing for this movie. It's a weak sequel overall and the cast wasn't as likable, it's not terrible though and I guess it's worth seeing if you really enjoyed the first "Waiting...". The main highlight of this movie though is the Ta-Ta's Wing Shack girls, Amanda Loncar was hot.

4.6/10