Review of Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising (2016) by Tracy S — 28 May 2016

Seth Rogen and Zac Efron team up to take down a new sorority with the follow up to their 2014 film simply called Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising. While this film wasn't needed and it definitely isn't better than the first, it still delivers solid laughs and enough character moments throughout to please anybody.

Sequels to comedies are often frowned upon simply because they never can live up to the original and Neighbors 2 falls victim to this, however that doesn't make it a bad movie. The main thing that saves this is actually the comedy itself. I have to admit that the jokes aren't all home runs, however when this movie delivers, it does it in spades. Writers Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Nicholas Stoller, Andrew Jay Cohen, and Brendan O' Brien all delivered a solid effort to make this movie stand out. The jokes border on Rogen and company's normal take on comedy is still crude and cruel, but they managed to work in a sense of social relevance as well to give this film a bit more bite than we are used to in most comedies.

Also working here is the cast. Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne are back in the leads and they are just as compatible as ever. Their scenes together are still hilarious and just naturally come off as a married couple. Zac Efron is back as well and still pulls off the role of frat guy just as well as he did in the last film. Ike Barinholtz also returns as the wild card friend and he delivers a lot of the film's surprising moments with comedic genius. Chloe Grace Moretz joins the cast as the leader of the sorority and she blends in well with the returning cast. The rest of the supporting cast is mixed with returning actors like Dave Franco as well as new members like Beanie Feldstein. While Moretz and the new members are nice additions and do great in their roles, I feel they didn't get enough development time to shine when compared to the main cast.

This theme of development is ultimately what holds this movie back from being a great film. The story is simple comedy sequel 101, same scenario but with a twist. Rogen and Byrne are now trying to sell their house but a sorority moves in next door and it is up to Rogen and his friends to get them out before the future owners pull out of the deal. Simple enough, but unfortunately the film squandered the potential due to the lack of development in both story and characters. Details get constantly lost throughout the film and a lot of the scenes feel disjointed because of it as well as some truly awful editing. Not only that but we get introduced to a host of new characters and none of them get any real treatment. They basically serve as caricatures of college students that just do truly terrible things. These things are mean spirited rather than funny and this makes us, as the audience, care for them even less than before.

Also holding this movie back is the overstatement of the theme of sexism. I am not knocking the movie because of having a theme, in fact I commend them for taking a relevant issue and satirizing it to show how bad it is. However, the way the go about it is just awful and by the end of the film it feels like you have blunt force trauma because they beat you over the head with it's central idea un such a poor manor that you simply get tired of it. It is great to give your film a social relevance, especially in today's political climate, however you need to finesse it. Neighbors 2 doesn't and the result is a film that nauseates you from it's delivery rather than raising awareness.

Overall Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising is a fun enough movie. The characters are fun and the comedy works for the most part but the lack of details and the over use of it's theme hinder the film in the long run. In the grand scheme of things, Neighbors 2 is well worth your time, just be warned that this is very raunchy and some of the comedy may not be to your liking. If you're okay with that, then this is worth a matinee admission.