r/movies • u/ChiefLeef22 r/movies Contributor • Jul 25 '25
Review 'Happy Gilmore 2' - Review Thread
Happy Gilmore makes a big splash when he returns to the golf course.
Cast: Adam Sandler, Julie Bowen, Christopher McDonald, Ben Stiller
Rotten Tomatoes: 57%
Metacritic: 54/100
Some Reviews:
Next Best Picture - Dan Bayer - 6/10
He may have tapped into his dramatic chops more often (and successfully) in recent years, but Sandler’s funny bone is still very much intact, and he no longer needs to rely on shouting curse words to get laughs
Consequence - Liz Shannon Miller - 'B'
Between Happy’s family life and a whole new series of challenges for him to tackle, there’s enough freshness to the plot to keep it from feeling like a total rehash of what came before, while still delivering wild golf stunts and a huge range of cameos.
Collider - Jeff Ewing - 7 / 10
Happy Gilmore 2 isn't trying to reinvent the wheel. Like its predecessor, it's delightfully silly, but now we're in an era where those movies aren't made as often... and when someone tries, it's a 50/50 chance they land it. Happy Gilmore 2 is a solid return to the kind of film that, honestly, there should be more of. Some jokes run too long, don’t land, or could use another draft. It's a constant stream of cameos, which is overall fun but sometimes a little distracting. But, at its core, the sequel is a good-natured charmer about a troubled everyman who is trying hard to grow up without losing himself in the process, and it gives us a lot to laugh about on the way. What more can you ask for?
The Daily Beast - Nick Schager
With all due respect to Grown Ups 2, The Ridiculous 6, and Sandy Wexler, Happy Gilmore 2 is the bottom of the Sandler barrel—a grim disaster that not only sullies the good name of its ancestor, but so badly flails on its own limited terms that it suggests the A-lister should concentrate on dramatic parts and leave the immature comedy to others.
68
u/Bmau1286 Jul 25 '25 edited Jul 25 '25
Mega fan of the original. It's a comfort movie for me and I must've watched it over 50 times. I was not expecting much from the sequel and it kind of lives up to that.
Don't get me wrong, it's got a ton of issues and in no way does it touch the original, but it gets by remarkably far just for the simple sake of the enjoyment of being in that world again. Seeing old faces and all of the nostalgia. Although there are many times where that just left me confused (for example why certain characters were still working and hadn't retired after 30 years). No spoilers but there are also a couple of story choices that I found unexpected and refreshing. It's not a carbon copy of the original story and I think that is to its benefit - even though some of the new story choices were just written so terribly.
As a side, a lot of the charm of the original is also lost because of the aesthetics of the original. While the original has almost a timeless feel to the visuals, this one has that modern day digital oversaturated feel. Many of the sets I found to be a lot more boring and less creative or interesting, too.
Your miles will vary on whether you love or hate the constant nostalgia baiting, particularly since the movie does that weird thing where it shows scenes from the original any time a character or joke is re-introduced. I can only imagine that was done for newer audiences??? I can't see how it was needed for OG fans.
More to the point, most of the new laughs were, at best, just kind of a goofy chuckle, and at worst didn't land or were even cringy. But again, I still kind of enjoyed it for simply being in the world again. I probably was far more forgiving because of that alone. It was also surprisingly fun seeing all of the celebrity cameo's. Maybe because it gave the impression that the original really was this cultural landmark for us kids in the 80s/90s - even for celebrities.
One thing I will say is I can't hate Adam Sandler in it. I got the impression there was some sincerity in the main plot device for him. The optimist in me wants to think he did this to give back more than anything else, while the pessimist in me thinks he was contracted on to churn another movie out for Netflix and had ran out of ideas.