Vacation Friends 2

I genuinely enjoyed the 2021 movie "Vacation Friends", and when I had the chance to sit down and watch the 2023 sequel "Vacation Friends 2", of course I did so.

However, I have to say that writer and director Clay Tarver delivered a lukewarm sequel here. The script and storyline for "Vacation Friends 2" was generally devoid of the funny and outrageous situations that were in the first movie. And the script felt rather mundane and bland, and I was hardly brought to laughter throughout the course of the 106 minutes that the movie ran for.

The acting performances in "Vacation Friends 2" were fair, and it was nice to see John Cena, Lil Rel Howery, Meredith Hagner and Yvonne Orji return to reprise their characters in the sequel. It was really good to see Steve Buscemi in the movie, though his talent was just not utilized to any great accomplishment in "Vacation Friends 2", which was a shame. And it was certainly also nice to see Carlos Santos on the cast list.

So I found "Vacation Friends 2" to be somewhat of a disappointing viewing experience. And it is hardly a movie that I will be picking up a second time, simply because it was lacking the comedy appeal of the 2021 movie.

My rating of "Vacation Friends 2" lands on a very bland five out of ten stars.

I'm not sure why there are so many negative reviews, if you liked the first movie you are all but guaranteed to like the first half of this movie as it is very similar.

The second half of the movie is more like an unrealistic action comedy that is not to be taken seriously, but there are still some laughs to be had. I respect that they didn't copy the first movie throughout the entire film.

If you go into this movie expecting a masterpiece or for it to be exactly the same as the first movie you are going to be disappointed, but if you lower your expectations a little you will be entertained for the entire 100 minutes.

The first Vacation Friends was a pleasant surprise. The sequel is a step down but still enjoyable. During the first half, I felt like I was laughing as much as in the original. It didn't feel like it missed a beat. But the second half has less laughs.

And it goes a little too outrageous and crosses the line of believability. This is mainly due to the odd inclusion of action scenes. I know it's not meant to be taken seriously, but it hurts the credibility of the whole movie. It doesn't feel as real, more like a fantasy.

Even with all that, I was still entertained and laughed a good amount. Steve Buscemi and Ronny Chieng are nice additions to the cast. (1 viewing, 8/25/2023)

I really enjoyed the first Vacation Friends movie. There were a lot of laughs and the premise was a good one. The sequel is the complete opposite and is just so boring. The laughs do not land in this one and the script is all over the place. I think this film could have benefited with more time in developement instead of just rushing it out to audiences. I probably really only laughed 2-3x throughout the whole movie. That's a problem especially since this movie is supposed to be a comedy. Vacation Friends 2 reminded me of that cheap straight to dvd film. Vacation Friends gets a low 3 stars out of 10. Skip this one and just watch the original.

The first Vacation Friends was a pretty mediocre comedy, but there were a few decent laughs. This sequel really doesn't bring much new to the table and the cast, sans Cena, is just not very funny. Cena is by far the highlight as he is the only one who really displays any real charisma, but he cannot do much to offset this predictable, boring story.

It's standard father-in-law and "win over the tough exec" fare. Everything is quite lazy with a lack of really any creative spark to speak for. Hulu's original movies from 20th Century films are hit or miss to say the least, and this is without a doubt a miss.