Bad Neighbours 2 - movie review

Bad Neighbours 2

Plot: When their new next-door neighbors turn out to be a sorority even more debaucherous than the fraternity previously living there, Mac and Kelly team with their former enemy, Teddy, to bring the girls down.
Cast: Seth Rogen, Rose Byrne, Zac Efron
Director: Nicholas Stoller
Rating: 15
Runtime: 1hr 32 mins
Release Date: Friday 6th May 2016

Bad Neighbours 2 (or Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising) is the sequel to 2014's surprise smash-hit Bad Neighbours. The sequel this time focuses on Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne with their new family but as they try to sell their house, they begin to face the same problem as before. This time, a sorority moves in. Comedy sequels are a rare breed and very little of them are good let alone better than the predecessor. Whilst writing this, I can only think of about eight or nine great comedic sequels (with standouts being 22 Jump Street and Hot Shots Part Deux). Fortunately, I can add Bad Neighbours 2 to this list.


Seth Rogen leads this very impressive cast and even though he does just play Seth Rogen, he's really funny. Everything that left Rogen's mouth had me chuckling and he had a great rapport with his other cast members. His character actually went through an arc rather than just becoming a generic antithesis of all things young. There are callbacks to some of the jokes he made in the first Neighbours such as the infamous airbag gags but Rogen's fresh paced humour and ridiculous laugh is more than welcome. Playing Rogen's wife is Rose Byrne and she has stepped her game up this time. I didn't mind her too much in the first film but compared to the other comedic superstars, I did think she stood out for the wrong reasons. This time however, she has drastically improved providing some of the film's greatest laughs. She is the perfect blend of ridiculousness and sincerity to make her character one of the most relatable. But the person who really steals every scene and the whole movie was Zac Efron. I mentioned this in my review for Dirty Grandpa and I'll say it again now; Efron is really coming into his own with his choice of comedies. He's found the perfect niche by playing a dumb jock who just wants to be happy and Efron gave it his all supplying the largest belly laughs with a blend of outrageously clever dialogue/improvisation and hilarious comedic set pieces. Taking Efron's place in this sequel is Chloë Grace Moretz who, after The 5th Wave, had me concerned about her work. Her performance was the only one that I wasn't too sure on. There are moments when her character is quite funny and I understand her motives for acting how she does, but then at other times, Moretz fails to perfect the humour required and many of her jokes fall flat on delivery. Ike Barinholtz and Dave Franco also return in the same roles as before, and whilst their roles are diminished, the moments they give are so good.

You could be mistaken for thinking that the plot of Bad Neighbours 2 is almost identical as the original Bad Neighbours and that is a fair judgement. At its very core, the focus is on Rogen and his friends and family taking down another college group who live next to them. What makes it very different was that the film tries to balance your sympathy between both parties whereas the first film depicted Efron and his fraternity as out of control madmen. With the sequel, the issue of sexism is raised in defence of Moretz and her sorority movement as it is revealed that sororities do not have the legal right to have parties whereas fraternities are. As soon as this was mentioned, as well as being shocked by this, I was apprehensive that the theme of equality would become too prominent that it would get in the way of humour and story progression. I have no trouble with these issues being raised as long as it's presented in a fluid motion and doesn't hinder the story at all. As luck would have it, the issue of sexism in American society is dealt with very carefully and I didn't find it compromising the story. Instead, it served a purpose. My main issues with Bad Neighbours 2 were that I never felt torn about who was in the right and the humour wasn't at the same level of hilariousness that the first film had. Regarding my support for the two sides, I was wholeheartedly on the side of Rogen, Byrne and Efron because I understood their mentality. Moretz and her friends had great motivations but the way they went about it and some of their 'pranks' they pulled on their neighbours were too extreme to make me sympathise with them.

Good comedy sequels are hard to come by. Sequels that are better than the original is almost impossible. Bad Neighbours 2 falls in between the two categories with effective humour from the leads but does suffer from pacing and writing issues. But I would say that this is a great film to go and see with a large group of people just to have a laugh.

My Verdict: 7/10

What did you think of Bad Neighbours 2? What do you think is the best comedy sequel? Post your comments below.

If you like what you've seen here, don't forget to share this post, comment below and check out my other reviews. Thanks for reading!