Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising

A sequel that ultimately falls right in line with its lackluster predecessor, Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising follows Mac (Seth Rogen) and Kelly (Rose Byrne) as their efforts to sell their house are threatened by a rowdy sorority that’s just moved in next door. It’s clear that Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising‘s biggest issue is its eventual transformation into a remake of the first film, which is disappointing, to be sure, given the potential afforded by the often laugh-out-loud opening half hour. (There is, for example, a hilarious sequence involving Mac and Kelly’s clueless encounter with their exasperated real-estate agent, played by Liz Cackowski.) Filmmaker Nicholas Stoller, working from a script he cowrote with four other individuals (!), slowly-but-surely eradicates the viewer’s good will, however, as Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising, once those aforementioned sorority girls arrive on the scene, begins essentially copying the plot of Neighbors to an almost stunning extent (ie the movie legitimately does, at times, feel like a beat-for-beat redo). It is, as such, not surprising to note that the film grows increasingly erratic and uneven as it progresses, with the tedious emphasis on the opposing sides’ prank war certainly exacerbating the less-than-engrossing atmosphere. (There’s little doubt, as well, that Stoller’s irritating hand-held aesthetic does the picture no favors.) By the time the unusually dreary final stretch rolls around, Neighbors 2: Sorority Rises has squandered its few positive attributes to become a typically underwhelming Stoller vehicle that wastes an impressively talented cast.

** out of ****