Grown Ups 2

I did not have high expectations for Grown Ups 2. It seemed puerile, dumb, and critics hated it but it actually exceeded my expectations in some ways although while being much worse in many others.

The movie has an interesting cast that consists of some very talented actors and comedians, combined with some actors and comedians who are a little past their prime, some relatively unknown people and Shaquille O'Neal.

Yes, that Shaquille O'Neal.

For the most part the cast had some potential, and some of the characters were pretty good, but ultimately, the talent that this movie has amassed was wasted by the bad writing... and boy was that writing bad.

Normally in movie reviews people will summarize the plot, but in this case there isn't a lot of plot to summarize. It centers around the first day of summer, a gigantic 80's themed party that the four main characters decide on throwing and a rivalry with douchey college fraternity led by Taylor Lautner of the Twilight infamy.

However, the plot is mostly irrelevant and seems to just serve as a vehicle for more poop jokes and kitschy gags. Perhaps the worst offense of the plot isn't that it's so dull but that at times it's boring. There were periods, especially towards the end, that were just mind-numbing and actually made me wish for the return of the dumb gags.

The movie isn't entirely unfunny, I certainly laughed at times, much to my surprise, but I was always kind of ashamed because of how stupid it was. I am definitely not the target audience of Grown Ups 2, so I'll give it some leeway, but the humor is still too dumb to excuse.

In some ways Grown Ups 2 seems kind of confused to me. It's not really sure if it wants to be a raunchy, toilet humor comedy, or a cheesy family comedy with a happy ending and an "aw-shucks" demeanor. It tries to do both, and because of that doesn't really succeed either. If I was a child watching this with my parents I would be embarrassed, if I was an adult watching this with my family I would be offended, and if I'm anyone in between then it's just an almost unbearable combination of stupidity and corniness.

I watched this with an audience that  consisted mostly of tweens and their parents, and much to my surprise they seemed to enjoy it. This movie may have been torn apart by critics, but it's got a lot more popular appeal, especially among it's target audience. So if you're between the ages of 10 and 14, love poop jokes and cliche, happy endings, then this movie is for you, but if you're anyone else, don't put yourself through this.

4/10 - Don't even consider it.