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Vacation Friends 2
From the "Unnecessary Sequel" school of filmmaking comes 2023's Vacation Friends 2, the ridiculously over-the-top sequel to a 2021 comedy that was no classic itself, but they've really outdone themselves here with a movie that makes no sense on so many levels.
Once again, Marcus (Lil Rel Howery) and Emily (Yvonne Oriji) have their vacation (this time in the Caribbean) turned upset down by Ron (Jon Cena) and Kyla (Meredith Hagner), who are now parents but have not let that hamper their partying one bit, thanks to the aid of their Latino au pere Maurillio. For some reason, Marcus has scheduled this vacation at the same time he is supposed to court some Korean businessmen on an important business deal and work on having a baby with Emily. The story gets even messier with the arrival of Kyla's father (Steve Buscemi), who has just finished eight years in jail and has never met son-in-law Ron, willing to jump through any hoops he can for the man's approval.
Director and screenwriter Clay Tarver, who is also to blame for the first film, has to take the heat for this one too, because not even the premise for this story makes sense. Even though they did make peace at the end of the first film, after everything Ron and Kyla pout them through, it makes no sense that Marcus and Emily would want to go on another vacation with these people. And why would he schedule said vacation at the same time and location as a very important business deal? And I really didn't understand the point of giving Ron and Kyla a baby, the last couple on earth who should be raising a child. I would have understood Marcus and Emily being parents in the sequel, but Ron and Kyla? I don't think so.
This movie gets just as silly and pointless as the first one did. The Korean businessmen insisting on bonding with Marcus through a drinking game and Marcus sending in Ron to substitute was stupid, as was Kyla's father getting her daughter and her husband and their friends in such serious danger with serious drug dealers, that actually finds them, at one point, trapped in a freighter sinking to the bottom of the ocean. The one part of this story that worked for me was everything Ron did to try and get on his father-in-law's good side. Even though the guy didn't deserve it, Ron's intentions were sincere and rather endearing and almost made this movie worth the time.
Tarver takes advantage of his big budget, but it doesn't really help. Howery (looking considerably slimmer than he did in the first film) works very hard to convince the viewer to accept that he's playing a part that should have been played by Kevin Hart. Cena is just as much fun as he was in the first film and Buscemi brought the greasy to Cena's father-in-law. Also have to give a shout out to Ronny Chieng (who was so much fun in M3gan) as Howery's potential client. If the truth be told, the world could have continued to rotate if this film had never been made.
From the "Unnecessary Sequel" school of filmmaking comes 2023's Vacation Friends 2, the ridiculously over-the-top sequel to a 2021 comedy that was no classic itself, but they've really outdone themselves here with a movie that makes no sense on so many levels.
Once again, Marcus (Lil Rel Howery) and Emily (Yvonne Oriji) have their vacation (this time in the Caribbean) turned upset down by Ron (Jon Cena) and Kyla (Meredith Hagner), who are now parents but have not let that hamper their partying one bit, thanks to the aid of their Latino au pere Maurillio. For some reason, Marcus has scheduled this vacation at the same time he is supposed to court some Korean businessmen on an important business deal and work on having a baby with Emily. The story gets even messier with the arrival of Kyla's father (Steve Buscemi), who has just finished eight years in jail and has never met son-in-law Ron, willing to jump through any hoops he can for the man's approval.
Director and screenwriter Clay Tarver, who is also to blame for the first film, has to take the heat for this one too, because not even the premise for this story makes sense. Even though they did make peace at the end of the first film, after everything Ron and Kyla pout them through, it makes no sense that Marcus and Emily would want to go on another vacation with these people. And why would he schedule said vacation at the same time and location as a very important business deal? And I really didn't understand the point of giving Ron and Kyla a baby, the last couple on earth who should be raising a child. I would have understood Marcus and Emily being parents in the sequel, but Ron and Kyla? I don't think so.
This movie gets just as silly and pointless as the first one did. The Korean businessmen insisting on bonding with Marcus through a drinking game and Marcus sending in Ron to substitute was stupid, as was Kyla's father getting her daughter and her husband and their friends in such serious danger with serious drug dealers, that actually finds them, at one point, trapped in a freighter sinking to the bottom of the ocean. The one part of this story that worked for me was everything Ron did to try and get on his father-in-law's good side. Even though the guy didn't deserve it, Ron's intentions were sincere and rather endearing and almost made this movie worth the time.
Tarver takes advantage of his big budget, but it doesn't really help. Howery (looking considerably slimmer than he did in the first film) works very hard to convince the viewer to accept that he's playing a part that should have been played by Kevin Hart. Cena is just as much fun as he was in the first film and Buscemi brought the greasy to Cena's father-in-law. Also have to give a shout out to Ronny Chieng (who was so much fun in M3gan) as Howery's potential client. If the truth be told, the world could have continued to rotate if this film had never been made.