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Meet the Fockers is not quite as good as its predecessor, but it is still very enjoyable with some brilliant cast additions that make for great comedy.

Everything that was brilliant about the style of Meet the Parents is replicated in this sequel to great effect. Ben Stiller and De Niro are on fine form as expected, and the addition of Dustin Hoffman and Barbara Streisand is inspired. They were so fantastic and their characters so well written.

The plot is fun, although it feels slightly less fresh than Meet the Parent. This is my only real criticism. Some plot elements felt a bit repetitive of the first film. I mean there's only so much that can go wrong for this poor guy right?

Overall a very solid and enjoyable comedy sequel. A worthy successor to Meet the Parents.

I beg to disagree with most of the critics on this one. I actually liked this movie a little better than 'Meet the Parents', and it is very rare for me to prefer a sequel to the original. There was some good acting in this movie, which is no wonder given the caliber of the cast. Make no mistake, this was definitely not a masterpiece, the script could have been better and the last 20 minutes of the film are a little overdone and cheesy, but all in all a decent, entertaining movie.

One thing I found to be a little disturbing about this film is the message it sends, especially to the younger audience: 'It is wrong to be straight, to have strong principles and self-discipline (the Byrnes), whereas it is proper to have no inhibitions, no discipline, no job (somehow everybody is rich anyway) and the world is just a happy merry-go-round (the Fockers). Even coming from liberal Hollywood, this is still wrong.

MEET THE FOCKERS made me laugh a lot. It probably has more laughs than the original, but the laughs aren't as big or as fresh or as subtle. And as sequels go, it contains many scenes that are mere variations of the original: the dinner gone wrong, the sports competition gone wrong, the pet gone wrong, the Owen Wilson cameo, the "focker" puns, etc. But many of the variations are quite inspired. Thanks to the terrific cast. De Niro, Stiller, Hoffman and Streisand all look like they're having a great time. Each is given a scene or two to really shine; De Niro and Hoffman fare the best. A child actor's also been added to the cast, and he's a scene-stealer. I just wish Blythe Danner (Mrs. Byrnes) and Teri Polo (Pam Focker) were given more to do. But, as entertaining as I thought the movie was, expect many critics to be turned off or pretend to be turned off by the numerous toilet jokes. I say, flock 'em!

"It's nice, all of us being here together, don't you think?"

Ben Stiller followed up the hit 2000 comedy Meet the Parents with a slightly lukewarm revisit of Gaylord Focker, this time with his own parents in tow. It's not as funny as the first movie, but it's also not a complete blight on the quality of the first film.

The plot this time around revolves around the meeting of Greg's and Pam's parents, as the soon to be in-laws have yet to be introduced. As you could probably guess, Jack (a returning Robert De Niro) clashes with the free-spirited and unorthodox Bernie (Dustin Hoffman) and Roz (Barbra Streisand). Conflict and the occasional humorous situation results.

With such a great cast, It's a little disappointing that this feels like such a re-tread, and that so many of jokes are hit or miss. Greg once again finds himself straying outside of the circle of trust, there are more jokes about him being a nurse, a dog that likes to hump things, and a baby who curses. It's a bit of an understatement to say that Meet the Fockers starts off slowly. Still, there are some laughs to be had, and at the very least, watching this will get you caught up on events before the third (and much funnier looking) movie in the series rolls into theaters this winter. 

Fans of the first movie or Ben Stiller should check this out, but you should also keep your expectations at a moderate level. The fresh faces add some fun, but the writing is a little stale.

Folks in the U.S. are apparently more sentimental than we hardier Euro types, or at least that's what Hollywood believes. So meet the Fockers has the obligatory feelgood ending when each and every loose end is neatly tied up in the final ten minutes (or it could have been eleven) and for this viewer rather left a rather artificial sugary taste to what at times was a quite inspired film. I must admit that I haven't seen the prequel Meet The Parents so I cannot say whether or not this is better, worse, as good as or as bad as that film. What I can say is that when Meet The Fockers scores, which it does do every so often, it is invariably the achievement of the five main characters. In other hands a pretty ordinary script might otherwise have made a truly dreadful film. Hoffman and Streisand in particular gell nicely as the quirky, hippy parents who son Ben Stiller loves but who he worries about so much when tight-arsed Jack is around. One nice touch was Dina, Jack's wife, who is shown to be a woman in her own right though a long-suffering wife. Overall this is par for the course, a standard Tinseltown comedy and its moments and occasional good jokes are down to the cast. Don't expect a great deal and you won't be disappointed. You'll get what this was always intended to be, undemanding fodder with a few laughs.