Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising will have long rewatchable legs. A solid spin on the first film, Neighbors 2 simply moves a sorority next door to an older couple instead of a frat. Using the themes of the first film and switching genders, Neighbors 2 is still pretty funny and different enough to stand solidly in the decent sequel territory.
Mac (Seth Rogen) and Kelly (Rose Byrne), the couple from the first Neighbors, are about to have a second baby and prepared to sell their house and move to the suburbs to raise their two kids. They just need a month of escrow to go by before the deal concludes. Coincidentally, Shelby (Chloe Grace-Moretz) really hates the sorority scene on campus and starts a house next door to Mac and Kelly with her 2 best friends Beth (Kiersey Clemons) and Nora (Beanie Feldstein). Those girls want to party and go crazy apart from the frat scene, scaring the hell out of the married couple who want to sell their house. Enter Teddy (Zac Efron) from the first movie, who is at a personal crossroads himself and unsure who to side with in this generational war.
Director Nicholas Stoller knows this is a sequel and directs it as such. Most of what worked in the first movie is repeated, with a bit of a twist. Air bags are deployed as an aid instead of a prank, sabotages by the old happen at a tailgate instead of a party, and tampons are used instead of boners as a punchline. It’s all pretty expected, but smartly very breezy. No scene really drags on, as the movie keeps things short to quickly move to the next bit. The tradeoff here is that the movie doesn’t quite resonate as well as the first, since the lessons for everyone have to be shortchanged in favor of brevity. However, Stoller has directed some very good comedies, so at worst you’ll enjoy yourself and quickly forget what you just saw. Neighbors 2 is the movie version of empty calories.
The best twist is the gender reversal. These sorority sisters just want to have fun on their own, and not be subjected to fun through the lens of a man. Antiquated gender roles are sent up in flames here; these girls are as vicious and joyous as college boys. Societal pressure is the enemy more than anything else as well: while Mac and Kelly aren’t happy about the sorority next door, they don’t HATE the women, and they actually want them to become independent women without men dictating who they have to be. Neighbors 2 shifts the story subtly in the middle to this one, and gives the ending a slightly different flavor and a piece of freshness missing from the rest of the movie.
Another big surprise, when in smart hands, Zac Efron can carry a good summer blockbuster. I was pretty sure Efron was headed into Ryan Reynolds territory of failed lead with his string of awful movie backfires. Maybe Efron found his niche with these. Neighbors 2 puts Teddy in the middle of the war between old and young. He sees his best bud (Dave Franco) moving on with his life and Teddy is unsure of joining him or doing what he’s good at and mentoring the sorority girls. Efron’s struggle is the best part of Neighbors 2 as he sells the hell out of it. Rose Byrne and Seth Rogen are the seasoned vets here, playing the corny couple who might be dimwitted enough to poorly raise kids. The best part of their routine is when they talk about who is the worse parent. Ike Barinholtz and Carla Gallo get the bigger old people laughs as their goofier friends, particularly Barinholtz in clown form. Chloe Grace-Moretz gets to stretch some acting chops playing in a non-Hit Girl comedy. Moretz is kinda funny, but anchors the emotional parts of the movie like an ensemble pro. Beanie Feldstein helps make Moretz funnier as her crazy college co-ed friend.
Neighbors 2 will leave a smile, cause a few laughs, and then go away quietly. Competently made decent sequels that retread really don’t exist, and Neighbors 2 competently bucks the trend. I also am with this film: Zac Efron dancing would distract a crowd, pretty easily in fact.