If you liked 'Bad Neighbours', you will love 'Bad Neighbours 2'.
Here’s an interesting twist though: if you weren’t that keen on the first film, you might actually find yourself loving the second one against your will.
At first glance it seems like Director Nick Stoller has just rehashed the original storyline, replacing the frat boys with sorority girls. Hooray. But 'Bad Neighbours 2' is more than what the posters make it seem. There are, of course, throwbacks to the first film, but that’s half the fun of a sequel. It triggers the same part of your brain that loves having in-jokes with your friends, making the laughs just that little bit more awesome.
What’s surprising though – and this is the part that might win over new fans – are the added layers of depth which, based on the first film, you would never expect to see. The characters have richer emotional lives and there is a newfound sense of connection to social issues. The exposition of gender inequality is relentless yet, thankfully, devoid of preachiness. The film expresses no conviction as to whether we should carry these beliefs, it simply points out that we do while making us laugh about it.
If you choose to look for them, there are also some touching human moments. The desire to be valued (and the fear you may not be) is a big theme, particularly for the main three characters: Zac Efron, Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne. There are some genuinely meaningful moments where the characters own up to the kind of vulnerability we all feel at times but often try to suppress.
The real beauty of the film is, you can connect to the deeper emotional current and social issues if you want, or you can just stay on the surface and enjoy the laughs. This subtle layering and choose-your-own-adventure effect was surprising. It’s not an ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’ kind of layering, it’s not complex, but it’s there. And, among all the wildly inappropriate (but undeniably hilarious) jokes, it’s nice to have something simple yet powerfully relatable to connect to.
★★★★☆
