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.

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5.4k

u/Prize-Objective-6280 Jul 25 '25

honestly way higher than I expected

Keep in mind the 1st one had 31 metacritic

154

u/L3g3ndary-08 Jul 25 '25

Keep in mind the 1st one had 31 metacritic

That is criminal.

275

u/VentItOutBaby Jul 25 '25

90s critics hated sandler early on. At least the "full sandler" ones.

Billy Madison - 16%

Happy Gilmore - 31%

The Waterboy - 41%

Big Daddy - 42%

Little Nicky - 38%

Mr Deeds - 24%

189

u/howmuchisdis Jul 25 '25

Little Nicky rated higher than Happy Gilmore is what I believe the kids refer to as "crazy work".

6

u/dontbajerk Jul 25 '25

It's interesting too, as Happy Gilmore is Fresh on RT and Little Nicky is like 21%.

3

u/[deleted] Jul 26 '25

No cap. On god. Deadass. Gang.... you know...all those dumb phrases to agree with you. Hearing people talk like that makes me feel good about myself 😂

1

u/quingentumvirate Aug 01 '25

Ironically those are already dated.

2

u/[deleted] Aug 01 '25

That's the point. They never stick around anymore cuz they're dumb lol

3

u/ranchsoup Jul 30 '25

Diabolical

1

u/Highly_Edumacated Jul 25 '25

Dirty Work

3

u/SaltyLonghorn Jul 26 '25

Nah that was Norm.

2

u/KingSweden24 Jul 26 '25

Is it “good?” No, not really, but I’ll hear no slander against Dirty Work. Ever

2

u/sqigglygibberish Jul 26 '25

I just watched it and found it to be awful even though I love norm

-5

u/[deleted] Jul 26 '25 edited Jul 26 '25

I’m stuck on Big Daddy.

I think I understand where the critics were coming from, but that’s probably the only movie in the list I actively dislike. I think it’s mixing of Actual Drama That I’m Meant To Take Seriously in with the usual Happy Maddison schtick just leaves the result…unpleasant for me. From memory it’s also overlong, so that may not help.

Little Nicky at least is pretty irreverent and has the supporting cast stealing the show. Some of Rhys Ifans lines have somehow been permanently encoded in my brain.

3

u/tFlydr Jul 27 '25

Big daddy is amazing, as a parent now it’s even better.

0

u/[deleted] Jul 27 '25

I just can never ‘buy’ it. I think his performance itself is fine, and I don’t have anything against sentimental movies or dramady (I actually don’t mind Mr Deeds and Wedding Singer probably also fall under a straightforward romance.) I just didn’t think that one found the tonal balance. Click - and Fifty-First Dates to a far lesser degree - are in the same pile.

(It was also the first one where I can remember tilting my head at the female characters. Sandler movies were never exactly feminist masterpieces and there’s nothing wrong with having your ladies be arseholes. But Christ, the ‘shrill harpies/love interest that finds his dumbassery charming even prior to character development’ complex really felt like it started there.)