Grown Ups 2: ohpleasegrowupalready!

 

the Trailer:


the Plot:
Three years after the events of the first film, Lenny Feder (Adam Sandler) has relocated his family back to his Connecticut hometown where he and his friends grew up.

In the film's opening in the Feder household, Lenny wakes up to find a wild deer standing next to his bed. Upon waking up, his wife Roxanne (Salma Hayek) startles the deer, causing it to urinate all over their home.



Eventually, Lenny is able to get the deer out of the house just in time to take his children Greg (Jake Goldberg), Keith (Cameron Boyce), and Becky (Alexys Nycole Sanchez) to their last day of school. Roxanne brings up the idea of their family having another baby, but Lenny says their family is perfect as is, upsetting Roxanne.

At the Lamonsoff household, Eric Lamonsoff (Kevin James) and his wife Sally(Maria Bello) are at odds with each other over how to raise their children. Sally believes in unwavering support while Eric prefers to be more practical with them. At the McKenzie household, Kurt (Chris Rock) surprises his wife Deanne (Maya Rudolph) with a thoughtful anniversary present, only to find that she has completely forgotten. Meanwhile, Marcus Higgins (David Spade) is waiting at a train station after receiving a letter from an old girlfriend, who tells him that he has a seventeen-year-old son Braden (Alexander Ludwig). Marcus is stunned to see a tattooed, six-foot-tall boy, who turns out to be Braden. Marcus tries to be nice and takes him to school, but Braden shows an immediate dislike toward him.

The school bus driver is wasted so Lenny takes charge of driving the bus, picking his friends along. After dropping off their kids, Lenny, Eric, Kurt, and Marcus spend the day roaming around town, reminiscing about the amazing summers they used to have when they were kids and Lenny's childhood bully, Tommy Cavanaugh (Steve Austin). Lenny argues that he could take Tommy as a kid and he can still take him. Eventually, the friends go to see Becky's ballet recital, where Lenny runs into Tommy, whom Lenny is visibly terrified of. Tommy threatens that if Lenny ever lies again about being able to beat him up, he'll publicly beat Lenny up.

Once the kids are out of school, Lenny, Eric, Kurt, and Marcus decide to visit the old quarry, where they used to swim as kids.
 

There they run into a bunch of partying frat boys (lead by Milo Ventimiglia and Taylor Lautner) who force them to jump into the quarry naked. Braden who was partying with the frat boys, witnesses this and goes off to vandalize their frat house. When the frat boys return, they swear to take revenge.

Lenny arrives home to help Roxanne set up for a 1980s-themed party for their friends. Meanwhile, Marcus begins to bond with Braden, who realizes he was wrong about his father. As all of their friends begin to arrive, Roxanne urges Lenny to consider having another baby. Lenny continues to protest the idea and is left dumbfounded when Roxanne reveals that she is pregnant.

Lenny, feeling overwhelmed by this discovery, goes off to drink with his friends. The Feder's party goes well most of the night until Tommy Cavanaugh shows up and disrespects Lenny in front of everyone, so Lenny challenges Tommy to a fight. In a surprising turn, Tommy decides to take a dive so that Lenny can look tough for his kids, and the two develop a mutual respect. Soon after, the angry frat boys arrive at the house looking for retribution for the damage to their frat house. They go on to insult the local town residents, inciting a fight. The locals hold their own against the frat boys and eventually send them running away defeated.


After all the commotion dies down, the four friends have pancakes at Eric's mom's house. Mrs. Lamonsoff (Georgia Engel) reassures Lenny that a new baby is a wonderful thing and eventually he will never be able to imagine life with just three kids. Lenny has a change of heart and returns home, telling Roxanne he is sorry and excited about the new baby, and they reconcile.

Review:
I knew I gave such a glowing review for the first film, but the sequel is too much.. There are (some) highlights but the tired run-of-the-mill jokes really bother me. I mean, please, I think you guys could find grown-up jokes that don't involve male nudity, horny old janitor, high and wasted adult, poop and such. Why stoop to low levels of funny HA??? The opening scene where the deer urinated all over is SO unnecessary! And it is odd that Roxanne has to scream when she saw Greg in nude. I mean, even though he's a teenager now, Greg is still YOUR son kan? Come on! To scream is to indicate there is some sort of detachment between a mother and her children. Don't you think so too?

urghhh.

Salma Hayek as Roxanne in this one is merely ornamental. There are scenes but she's almost invisible, only to shine a bit at the end of the movie when Lenny finally greets his unborn baby.

I also like the moral that Greg and Andre (Kurt's son) though having opportunities to drink alcohol during the frat party, had evaded to do so. This is what we should impart to our kids, even though grown-ups are not watching, you have an integrity to uphold. That it is your moral code that you should adhere to.

For a star awarded, I love that this movie is some sort of a reunion. We could see SNL players in it having fun.


And Oliver Hudson, David Spade's fellow in Rules Of Engagement was recruited as a yoga instructor. Dishy definitely but yes, still ornamental. No character development whatsoever. Pfftttt!

I also find it odd that Tommy picks the wrong time to reveal that he's a decent guy. I mean, if he truly respects Lenny as a guy, and am repentant of his past bullying, middle of the crowd is definitely not the place to confess. I mean, you could approach Lenny at another time, and yes STOP bullying him in public.

Another low point to me is Milo Ventimiglia playing frat boy role. I mean, he's a spectacular actor. To reduce him to such role is so degrading to me. Milo, you should have picked a better script than this T-T And Patrick Schwarzenegger is also wasted here. The producers could have picked other unknown faces and it won't matter a bit.

Oh, and the same opinion goes for Shaquille O'Neal's role as Officer Fluzoo. Degrading.


Regardless of the disappointments in the storyline, the film has done well to earn triple of its cost. Meaning that Adam Sandler and co has a solid support from moviegoers. Just please do it well next time, please. Lenny is such a decent guy that I wish the Grown Ups gang had a very nice closure, minus the silly (unfunny) gags. Do Grown Ups 3 better please!