Movie Reaction: Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising

Formula: Neighbors + girls

For a sequel, there are two important statements that are said and the order that they are said makes all the difference. Those two statements are "We should make a sequel" and "I have good idea for a sequel". With Neighbors 2, I have a hard time believing that the good idea for a sequel came before the decision to make a sequel. That's not a bad thing either. I'm pretty sure 22 Jump Street went in the same order and it was great. It's just an important thought to have when considering a movie.

The first Neighbors is probably my favorite movie from 2014. It's an efficient comedy with a fantastic cast and a versatile premise that lends itself to a lot of jokes. And everyone is back for the sequel. Nicolas Stoller returns as director. Andrew Jay Cohen and Brendan O'Brien wrote the script again, this time with Stoller, Seth Rogen, and Evan Goldberg getting writing credits as well. The core cast of Rogen, Rose Byrne, Zac Efron, Ike Barinholtz, and Carla Gallo are back, with Dave Franco, Jerrod Carmichael, and Christopher Mintz-Plasse getting small roles. Oh, then there's the addition of Chloe Grace Moretz, Kiersey Clemons (Dope, Transparent), and Beanie Feldstein. There's no shortage of people I love in this. And that is almost a problem. More on that in a moment.

The movie picks up a couple years after the first movie. Mac and Kelly (Rogen and Byrne) are about to move out of their house but have to wait 30 days for the buyers to not back out of the deal. Teddy (Efron) finds himself homeless after his roommate, Pete (Franco) gets engaged. Teddy helps start a sorority led by a freshman girl, Shelby (Moretz), who is pissed off that official sororities aren't allowed to throw parties. Mac and Kelly fear a repeat of their last run-in with Greek neighbors and are afraid the girls' rowdy presence will scare the prospective buyers. This sets off another prank war, similar to the first movie, except with girls and over a single month's time.

I didn't realize how much covering the full year was a blessing in the first movie. It gave time for a natural escalation and story arching. The 30 days covered in this movie just isn't enough. Too much happens in too short a time and you can feel it. When watching the movie in the climactic scenes, just remind yourself that it's only the end of September in their Freshman year and that'll be a hell of a context shock. The whole movie has a rhythm problem. Even the very end felt off. It ends so quietly that I didn't leave the theater for a while during the credits because I kept expecting a post credits scene or outtake to one more laugh.

While the beats of the story had issues, I liked the story itself quite a bit. Sororititty Sorority Rising almost apologizes for the first movie by showing a female student's perspective of the frat parties glorified in the last movie. Those parties aren't a good time for them. They're icky and misogynist. And the movie repeatedly calls out double-standards. Shelby's motivation for just about everything is "you wouldn't be saying this if I was a man". The people who wrote the script seem generally shocked by the fact that sororities aren't allowed to throw parties.

The performances are just as good this time around. I adore how equal Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne are as screw-ups. They are balanced in how immature they are and act as a team. Also, I want to repeat from my reaction of Neighbors, I love that Byrne gets to keep her accent. The issues with Efron have to do with his character, not Efron. Teddy is kind of forced into a movie that he doesn't fit into, but Efron is game for anything and his comedic timing is always improving. Moretz is perfectly cast here. There's really no other actress her age that can pull off the sort of villainous, cursing like a sailor, but still young and vulnerable thing that she does. Kiersey Clemons and Beanie Feldstein are pretty underused except for some big physical comedy that Feldstein gets to do. With such a large cast, the girls in the sorority don't get the time to develop that they need, which is a shame.

I've managed to go this long without saying the most important thing: This movie is very funny. The humor is a little different though. It's less grounded than before, and the jokes are driving the movie more than the story. Some jokes, namely the airbags, are recycled a bit too much (at the same time, that's the kind of joke that some fans would call required to return). The new characters and perspective keep enough of the movie fresh and it's full of familiar actors who are just about all Apatow-style comedy veterans by now. I fully enjoyed this even if it's not quite as good as the first. Comedy sequels are hard. Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising does better than most.

Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend