Scoob! (2020) review

There aren’t many franchises that have maintained a consistent spot in the annals of pop culture like Scooby-Doo has. It has now been more than half a century since Scooby-Doo, Where Are You first made its debut on CBS’ Saturday Morning cartoon block on September 13^th, 1969. The show immediately proved to be a hit for its studio, the legendary Hanna-Barbera Productions, and proceeded to evolve over the next several decades with new incarnations of the show. And while these newer shows did occasionally make a few story changes here and there (whether it’s by having a series with the gang as kids or by having the monsters they encounter be real instead of fake), they almost always stayed true to the franchise’s classic formula. As of this year, there have been 14 TV series starring the Mystery Inc gang and more than 40 feature-length films. Most of these films, however, have been direct-to-video releases, although the franchise did make its way to the big screen in 2002 with the live-action Scooby-Doo film, which was then followed by Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed in 2004. While neither film was a hit with critics, they both did solidly at the box-office, although the second film wasn’t as successful as its predecessor, resulting in a potential third film being canned. Thus, it wouldn’t have been until this year when the series would finally make its return to the big screen with a new animated feature titled Scoob!... that is, until the coronavirus pandemic hit, forcing theaters across the country to be shut down until further notice. And in Scoob’s case, this immediately proved to be a problem since it was originally set to come out on May 15^th, which was now impossible. Thus, Warner Bros. ultimately decided to follow in the footsteps of DreamWorks’ Trolls: World Tour by forgoing its theatrical release in favor of it debuting via on-demand on the day it was slated to hit theaters. Not only that, but this new film is set to be the first in a new ‘Cinematic Universe’ that would be based around the classic characters of Hanna-Barbera, a prospect that I find quite exciting and solidly initiated through this entertaining new take on the Mystery Inc gang.

On an average summer day, a young, lonely boy named Norville ‘Shaggy’ Rogers (voiced by Iain Armitage as a kid and Will Forte as an adult) comes across a stray talking dog (voiced by Frank Welker). The two instantly begin to bond, resulting in Shaggy adopting him and giving him the name Scooby-Doo. Soon afterward, the two end up finding even more friends when they meet Fred Jones (voiced by Pierce Gagnon as a kid and Zac Efron as an adult), Daphne Blake (voiced by Mckenna Grace as a kid and Amanda Seyfried as an adult), and Velma Dinkley (voiced by Ariana Greenblatt as a kid and Gina Rodriguez as an adult). Together, they decide to tackle mysteries as the Mystery Inc gang, which they proceed to do for the next several years. And yet, despite their success, Shaggy and Scooby soon start to feel that they are the least valuable members of the group given their generally lax and cowardly nature. However, the two then find themselves summoned by their favorite superhero, the Blue Falcon… or rather, the Blue Falcon’s son Brian (voiced by Mark Wahlberg) who has taken up his father’s mantle in the wake of his retirement. After also meeting the Blue Falcon’s companions, tech-savvy Dee Dee Sykes (voiced by Kiersey Clemons) and the robotic dog Dynomutt (voiced by Ken Jeong), Shaggy and Scooby learn that Scooby is being pursued by the notorious Dick Dastardly (voiced by Jason Isaacs). Specifically, Dastardly plans to use Scooby to open the gates to the Underworld (since Scooby is revealed to be a descendant of Alexander the Great’s canine companion Peritas), potentially unleashing the three-headed dog monster Cerberus upon the world. Thus, both the Mystery Inc gang and the crew of the Blue Falcon’s ship, the Falcon Fury, find themselves in a race against time to prevent Dastardly from unleashing the Apocalypse as Shaggy and Scooby look to prove themselves worthy of being properly seen as heroes.  

Scoob is very much your traditional Scooby-Doo adventure albeit with a larger focus on other characters from the world of Hanna-Barbera. As such, I should probably start by noting that while this is very much a Scooby-Doo film, it isn’t as centered on the Mystery Inc gang when compared to the other films and shows that make up its massive franchise. In fact, given the nature of the plot, Shaggy and Scooby end up separated from Fred, Daphne, and Velma for a good chunk of the runtime. At the very least, the film does still allow for each member of the gang to have their own standout moment in the story, and if there is a major upside to all this, it’s that I believe that this film serves as a great gateway for new audiences to be introduced to some of the lesser-known characters from the Hanna-Barbera universe. I mean, if Marvel could do it for the likes of Guardians of the Galaxy, then Warner Bros and Hanna-Barbera can do it for the likes of the Blue Falcon, Dynomutt, and Captain Caveman (voiced by Tracy Morgan). And although the plot itself is rather basic (to the point where it somewhat rehashes the subplot of Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed where Shaggy and Scooby look to prove themselves as valuable members of the gang), it still delivers solid emotional depth through its excellent handling of Shaggy and Scooby’s relationship. Plus, the film also does a great job of maintaining the overall spirit of the franchise even as a modernized adaptation of it. So yes, there are quite a lot of modern references here and there to things like Netflix and Harry Potter, but the film is also full of Hanna-Barbera trademarks from the delightfully cheesy sound effects to an impressive recreation of Where Are You’s title sequence (not to mention all the fun Easter eggs). And it all comes together thanks to some solid animation that reminds me a lot of 2015’s The Peanuts Movie in how it excellently manages to maintain the Scooby-Doo franchise’s traditionally 2-D animated roots even though it is a computer-animated feature.

There has been a bit of controversy, however, surrounding this film’s voice cast. Instead of utilizing the current ensemble that has been voicing the Mystery Inc gang on TV and film, this film goes for an all-star cast, with the legendary Frank Welker being the only one of the core crew reprising any of his roles (in this instance, Scooby-Doo, who he’s voiced since 2002). As you may have guessed, this didn’t go over well with some of the franchise’s current voice cast, namely Matthew Lillard, who took over the role of Shaggy from Casey Kasem after playing the character in the live-action films, and Grey Delisle, the current voice actress for Daphne. And while I completely understand where they’re coming from, especially since they’ve stated that they weren’t informed of this change, the cast for this film does end up doing a solid job. To be clear, I’m not saying that this new cast should completely replace the current voice cast (not in the slightest) but at the very least, Will Forte, Zac Efron, Gina Rodriguez, and Amanda Seyfried manage to be natural fits in their respective roles. But like I just said, not everyone has been onboard with this decision and have often argued that the ‘celebrity’ voices should’ve been reserved for the supporting characters like Mark Wahlberg as the Blue Falcon. On that note, Wahlberg is certainly a fun standout of the cast and a lot of this is thanks to how the film handles Brian’s role in the story since it primarily revolves around his struggles to live up to the legacy of his father. Because of this, he often avoids partaking in any superhero action (but still takes all the credit at the end of the day) while the far more competent duo of Dee Dee and Dynomutt do all the work, resulting in plenty of the film’s best comedic moments. Finally, Jason Isaacs is clearly having a lot of fun as the utterly diabolical Dick Dastardly, but perhaps the most fascinating part of this whole film is how even someone as villainous as Dick gets to partake in some of its emotional beats when the reason behind his plan to open up the Underworld is revealed. I won’t reveal it here for obvious reasons, but if you’re familiar with the character, then I don’t even need to say anything more because I’m sure you know exactly what I’m referring to.

All in all, Scoob is a delightful new spin on one of the most classic animated franchises of all-time. It may not be the best thing that has ever come out of the Scooby-Doo franchise, but it still delivers on a lot of what longtime fans have come to expect from it. Yes, it’s very much a modernized take on the property, but at the same time, it still does just enough to pay homage to the classic style of Hanna-Barbera. And while I fully understand why this film has been a notable source of controversy due to its revamped voice cast, I also feel that this will only become a genuine problem if this cast ends up replacing the current cast from the shows, which I strongly doubt it will. In short, I’m well-aware that quite a few people most likely groaned at the prospect of this being another film that’s meant to kick-start a new cinematic universe a la Marvel since, to be perfectly blunt, most of the attempts to follow the MCU’s winning formula have been underwhelming, to say the least. However, this is one of those cases where a potential cinematic universe would be highly appropriate since crossovers between Hanna-Barbera properties were quite common back in the studio’s heyday. Just look at the time that the Jetsons met the Flintstones or when the Mystery Inc gang cameoed in an episode of Johnny Bravo. And as someone whose experience with Hanna-Barbera is admittedly limited to The Flintstones, The Jetsons, the various Cartoon Network shows from the ’90s like Johnny Bravo and Dexter’s Laboratory, and of course, Scooby-Doo, I’m all for a Hanna-Barbera Cinematic Universe. As such, I do hope that this film’s fate as a direct-to-streaming release won’t end up affecting its potential franchise’s chances in the long run. Believe me, if it wasn’t for this crazy pandemic that we’re currently in right now, this was very much a film that I was planning to see in theaters.

Rating: 4/5

Post-Christmas Short Review Triple Feature: 2017 Edition

In 2012, it was Les Misérables and Django Unchained. In 2013, it was The Wolf of Wall Street and American Hustle. In 2014, it was Into the Woods and The Imitation Game. In 2015, there was The Hateful Eight and The Big Short. And last year, 2016, we had Fences and La La Land. Yes, folks, it is that time of year again as I recently embarked on my annual Post-Christmas double feature run with my good friend and fellow film critic Matthew Goudreau of The Young Folks. This is something that we’ve been doing for the past few years now as a way of seeing some of the year’s biggest award contenders. As such, as I’ve done every year, I’ll be doing a quick pair of short reviews for these two films instead of two standard reviews so that I can have more time to start preparing for my annual ‘Top 12 Favorite Films of the Year’ list. But for these past few years, what originally began as a ‘Double Feature’ post soon turned into a ‘Triple Feature’ post because Matt and I often do this around the time of New Year’s Eve. And almost every year on that day, my family and I have a tradition of going to see a film as a nice way of closing out the year. Thus, today on Rhode Island Movie Corner, I’m officially kicking off my 2018 slate of posts* (not counting the second half of my ‘Worst of 2017’ list that was published a few days ago) by delving into the last three new releases that I saw in 2017, beginning with the two films that Matt and I saw on the day before New Year’s Eve.

THE SHAPE OF WATER

First up, we have the latest film from director Guillermo Del Toro. Over the past few years, Del Toro has made quite a name for himself in the film industry particularly thanks to his work in the fantasy genre. This includes the likes of the original Hellboy from 2004, its 2008 sequel Hellboy II: The Golden Army, and 2006’s Pan’s Labyrinth, which ended up winning three Oscars at that year’s ceremony. And now Del Toro returns to the fantasy genre with another big awards contender, The Shape of Water, which tells the story of a mute woman named Elisa who forms a special bond with a humanoid-looking amphibious creature that’s being held captive at the government facility that she works at. In the process, however, she and the creature find themselves pursued by the vicious colonel who had captured the creature in the first place. All in all, the film is a charming fantasy flick that features some excellent cinematography and visual effects. This is especially worth noting considering the fact that this film was made on a modest budget of under $20 million. The film is also bolstered by a collection of strong performances from its ensemble cast. Sally Hawkins is incredibly charismatic as the mute Elisa while Michael Shannon is delightfully sinister as the main antagonist, Colonel Strickland. Richard Jenkins is also a major standout as Elisa’s closeted artist neighbor Giles as is Michael Stuhlbarg as a Russian scientist who, like Elisa, is more sympathetic to the creature in comparison to Strickland. And, of course, there’s Del Toro regular Doug Jones once again doing a phenomenal job under heavy makeup as the incredibly sympathetic ‘Asset’. With all this in mind, Guillermo Del Toro has very much hit it out of the park with this visually beautiful tale of a Beauty and her Beast.

Rating: 4.5/5

ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD

This is a film that has certainly attracted quite a lot of media attention these past few months. As many of you know, director Ridley Scott’s newest film, which delves into the true story of the infamous kidnapping of oil tycoon J. Paul Getty’s grandson John Paul Getty III, originally starred Kevin Spacey in the role of J. Paul Getty. That all changed, however, when Spacey became just the latest figure in the film industry to be hit with the ‘Weinstein effect’ and be accused of several incidents of sexual assault. Thus, in what was easily one of the most unprecedented moves ever seen in the entire industry, Scott straight-up recast the role and reshot major sequences of the film just one month prior to its release. And so, Christopher Plummer now stars in the role of J. Paul Getty; though, really, this change doesn’t have that much of an effect over the final film (aside from it being a different spin on the character) as Getty’s role in the film is minor at best. Still, Plummer does do an excellent job in the role of the cold and distant billionaire. Equally terrific in the film is Michelle Williams as Gail Harris, Getty’s former daughter-in-law who becomes extremely devoted to the process of finding her kidnapped son. These strong performances are easily the best part of the film, and for the most part, they make up for its biggest shortcoming, its sluggish pacing. Simply put, there are several instances where you can feel the brunt of the film’s near two and a half hour runtime, especially during the second act. That’s not to say, though, that the film doesn’t have its moments; and of course, at the end of the day, Ridley Scott deserves a heck of a lot of credit for managing to completely rework a sizable chunk of the film in such a short amount of time. While it’s by no means the best film that he’s ever done, All the Money in the World is still worth checking out if mainly for the phenomenal performances from Williams and Plummer.  

Rating: 3/5

THE GREATEST SHOWMAN

And finally, we have the last new film release that I saw in 2017 on New Year’s Eve, The Greatest Showman. This lavish period musical is based on the true story of the origins of the iconic Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey circus… which ironically closed for good this past May due to decreasing ticket sales. Despite this, however, I was still very much looking forward to this film given the fond memories that I have of going to see the circus when I was younger. With that said, though, I should probably start this review by addressing the big elephant in the room that is this film’s portrayal of the circus’ founder, P.T. Barnum. While the film portrays Barnum as an endearing ‘nobody’ who managed to defy all odds and make a name for himself in the world of entertainment thanks to his circus, several people have pointed out that he was a far more ruthless entrepreneur than the film lets on. But while I do recognize the fact that this film isn’t exactly historically accurate, I still found it to be quite enjoyable thanks to its excellent and well-choreographed musical numbers courtesy of La La Land songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. Plus, the film also boasts a terrific ensemble cast highlighted by Hugh Jackman as P.T. Barnum, Michelle Williams (in her second major appearance in today’s post) as Barnum’s loving wife Charity, Zac Efron as a playwright who ends up becoming Barnum’s business partner, and Zendaya as one of the circus’ trapeze artists who falls in love with Efron’s character. In short, it is perfectly understandable if some may find this film’s messages of acceptance to be rather phony given the context of the true story that it’s based on. Still, if you’re just looking for a charming and original feel-good musical, then I have the feeling that you’ll enjoy The Greatest Showman regardless of how much it stretches the truth.

Rating: 5/5!

Baywatch (2017) review

Well, we’ve got another theatrical revamp of a classic TV series on our hands. In this instance, it’s an R-rated adaptation of the cult classic TV series about sexy lifeguards running in slow motion; Baywatch. Created by the trio of Michael Berk, Douglas Schwartz, and Gregory J. Bonann, Baywatch debuted in 1989 on NBC. It only lasted one season on the network but would see new life in syndication, ultimately ending at 11 seasons with a total of almost 250 episodes. The show, about a bunch of lifeguards who deal with all sorts of trouble, not just the stuff that happens on the beach, starred David Hasselhoff in the role of head lifeguard Mitch Buchannon. The show was also known for launching the career of Pamela Anderson, who starred in the role of lifeguard CJ Parker. Which brings us back to 2017 with this new adaptation that, as noted earlier, strives to be an R-rated action comedy. It certainly has some good people working on it; for one thing, it stars one of Hollywood’s most charismatic stars, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, in the role that Hasselhoff portrayed on TV. Add in other big names like Zac Efron and Priyanka Chopra and you have a promising ensemble cast. In the director’s chair is Seth Gordon, who’s had a solid career in the industry so far thanks to solid hits like his 2007 documentary The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters and one of the many surprise hits of 2011, Horrible Bosses. Seems like a solid assembly of cast and crew, right? Well, unfortunately, despite the best efforts of this film’s cast, this new adaptation of Baywatch is one of the most underwhelming comedies in recent memory.

On a sunny beach in Florida, Mitch Buchannon (Dwayne Johnson) runs the beach’s lifeguard division known as Baywatch alongside second-in-command Stephanie Holden (Ilfenesh Hadera) and veteran CJ Parker (Kelly Rohrbach). During their annual recruitment session, they end up bringing in three new recruits; Holden’s friend Summer Quinn (Alexandria Daddario), nerd Ronnie (Jon Bass), who has a crush on CJ, and former Olympic swimmer Matt Brody (Zac Efron), who won two gold medals but embarrassed himself in a team relay event. Despite Mitch’s insistence that Brody doesn’t have what it takes to be a Baywatch lifeguard, his superior, Captain Thorne (Rob Huebel), encourages him to bring Brody onto the team to help keep the program running, as the city’s been repeatedly cutting their funding. While this is going on, Mitch and crew start to find traces of drugs all over the beach. Things get even more complicated when the body of a city official winds up on the beach as well. Immediately, Mitch deduces that all the recent troubles on the beach are directly tied to businesswoman Victoria Leeds (Priyanka Chopra), the new owner of the local nightclub. Thus, despite being constantly reminded by his superiors that this type of work is beyond his jurisdiction, Mitch leads Brody and the team on an investigation into Leeds’ operation.

Now, for the record, I have never watched a single episode of Baywatch prior to seeing this film. From what I’ve read, many feel that while the show was quite cheesy (we are, after all, talking about the show that’s perhaps best known for the scenes where the lifeguards run in slow-motion), it was still rather entertaining to watch despite this. As for this new take on the franchise, though, from the perspective of someone who’s generally unfamiliar with Baywatch, it doesn’t seem like this film represents its source material in a positive light. Again, from what I’ve read, the show, despite its cheesiness, played things straight despite its rather ludicrous plot of lifeguards delving into non-lifeguard situations. The film, though, strives to be a comedy, which is perfectly fine… except the jokes REALLY don’t hit here. I mean, the film isn’t completely humorless; there are a few chuckle-worthy moments here and there. But overall, in terms of humor, this has one of the worst hit-to-miss ratios that I’ve ever seen in a comedy. I wouldn’t say that this is because the film tries too hard to be an R-rated comedy, complete with numerous sex jokes as well as some jokes that poke fun at some of the show’s campier elements. In fact, I’d dare say that the film is quite tame compared to other hardcore R-rated comedies. At the end of the day, it’s just a mediocre screenplay. And as for the film’s other element taken from the show, the action, it’s not much better. I mean, the chase sequences are handled fine for the most part. The fight sequences, though, are another story, as those suffer from some very erratic editing.  

It’s a shame, really, that the film is severely lacking in humor because it comes at the expense of a solidly assembled ensemble cast. While it seems like everyone on the cast had a lot of fun making this film, most of them get stuck with mediocre material; not just in terms of humor, but also in terms of character development, which is practically non-existent save for Brody’s arc of trying to redeem himself after his colossal screw-up at the Olympics. And even then, the film’s handling of that plotline is iffy at best. Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and Zac Efron do have great camaraderie with each other and both have proven themselves to be great in other comedies… but here, neither of them get anything to work with. The same goes for Priyanka Chopra as the main villain, Victoria Leeds. Again, she’s clearly having a lot of fun playing a villainous character… and yet she doesn’t get anything to work with. This is the same situation for the other female leads in the film as well, like Alexandria Daddario and Kelly Rohrbach. They’re generally underutilized in favor of Mitch and Brody, who of course as I just noted earlier, don’t get much to work with either. Ultimately, the biggest standouts of the film end up being members of the supporting cast. Jon Bass does get a lot of the best moments in the film as the nerdy Ronnie, mainly through his attempts to flirt with CJ. General newcomer Yahya Abdul-Mateen II also gets some funny lines as Sgt. Ellerbee, who constantly reminds Mitch and the Baywatch crew that they’re not the police; they’re just lifeguards. 

  

Oh boy… this one was a major dud. It’s a shame, really, because they were really building this film up to be the big comedy hit of the summer. Just look at all the marketing that went into this. Unfortunately, though, the film ends up being a disastrous adaptation of a popular TV show. I honestly don’t know what went wrong here; it’s not really because of the film trying to be an R-rated take on Baywatch. In fact, the film doesn’t even really live up to what it wants to be, as it’s one of the tamest R-rated comedies in recent years. If they truly wanted to make it a ‘hard-R’ comedy, they should’ve just gone all the way with it. And as for the humor, most of the jokes ultimately land with a thud instead of a bang. Thus, the film’s cast is stuck with mediocre material packaged around an equally mediocre plot (Disclaimer: I’m not going to compare this to the film adaptation of 21 Jump Street, which has a similar plot, like a lot of other critics have been doing). Like I said before, I’ve never seen the original Baywatch series. I probably will check it out someday, but as far as this film is concerned? Let’s just say that if you’re like me and you’ve never watched Baywatch before, this film doesn’t paint a positive image of the show at all! I mean, I know that the show is not considered to be a masterpiece or anything, but I’m sure that it’s at least better than this.

Rating: 1/5

Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising (2016) review

Summer 2014 had quite a couple of really good comedies, including one of the rare cases of a great comedy sequel in the form of 22 Jump Street. Another excellent comedy from that year was director Nicholas Stoller’s Neighbors, which starred Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne as a couple with a newborn daughter who find themselves having to deal with the very rowdy fraternity that ends up moving in next door, led by their president played by Zac Efron. What followed was an epic prank war between the two sides that was full of sabotages, betrayals, and a whole lot of airbags. But one of the best things about the film was that even though the fraternity in the film was technically the ‘antagonist’ to Rogen and Byrne’s characters, the film didn’t try to demonize them too much. And as I can at least certify thanks to my pal Matthew Goudreau, who is an alumnus of Sigma Chi’s URI chapter, the film also did a really nice job in portraying the brotherhood of fraternities, which I think definitely helped the film find a really nice audience at the box office ($270 million, to be precise). So now we have Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising. Stoller returns to direct and most of the first film’s cast return to reprise their roles in a film that basically follows a plotline that is ‘almost’ exactly similar to its predecessor. Except this time, Rogen and Byrne’s characters instead find themselves having to deal with a sorority, which brings up a whole new set of problems for them. But the question now is whether or not this ends up being a ‘good’ comedy sequel, something that is obviously very rare for the genre. So does it? Well… yes and no…

Since the events of the previous film, Mac (Seth Rogen) and Kelly (Rose Byrne) Radner have been living a peaceful life with their daughter Stella. With another baby on the way, the two decide to sell their house. While they do end up attracting a potential buyer, they learn that their house will be on ‘escrow’ status for 30 days, meaning that the deal won’t be finalized until that time and the buyers could back out of it if they find anything wrong with the place (e.g. another fraternity ends up moving in next door). And unfortunately for Mac and Kelly, yet another college Greek group does end up moving in next door to them. This time around, however, the group in question is the newly formed sorority Kappa Nu, led by Shelby (Chloe Grace Moretz) and her friends Beth (Kiersey Clemons) and Nora (Beanie Feldstein), who formed the sorority after learning that in the U.S., sororities are not allowed to throw parties while fraternities can. With the sale of their house on the line, Mac and Kelly once again find themselves getting into a major prank war in the hopes of getting rid of Kappa Nu. Thankfully this time around they get some extra help from their old ‘nemesis’, former Delta Psi president Teddy Sanders (Zac Efron), who joins their side after initially helping the Kappa Nu squad get set up, and was then ‘dumped’ by them for being ‘too old’, so that he could feel ‘valuable’ to someone.

Neighbors 2 is definitely one of those cases of a comedy sequel where the plot is almost identical to the one in the first film save for a few cosmetic changes. And like the original Neighbors, this film does have a bit of a slow start before it really starts to get into the humor. However, I didn’t really find this one to be ‘as funny’ as the original. Now don’t get me wrong there are plenty of funny moments in the film which, like the original, mainly stem from all of the pranks that both sides do to each other. However, I can’t really say that there were as many ‘laugh out loud’ moments compared to those in the first one, to the point where quite a few funny scenes from the trailer didn’t even appear in the film (e.g. LL Cool J’s cameo as Beth’s father). Case in point, this film ends on a much simpler note compared to the first film and while I do like the message that the ending conveys in regards to the strength of Kappa Nu’s sisterhood, it’s still rather disappointing that the film doesn’t end on a note similar to how the first film did with its epically hilarious fight between Mac and Teddy. But at the same time, this film can also be very much commended for its feminist themes, which of course are mainly exemplified through Shelby and her Kappa Nu sisters and their efforts in challenging ‘the sexist system’. But while the film’s feminist themes are genuinely well-handled, sometimes they admittedly come off a bit heavy-handed. By that I mean the film does kind of drill in the whole ‘sexist system’ thing to the point where it keeps doing so even after it already got its point across early on in the film.

One of the great things about the original Neighbors was that even though Mac and Kelly were the ‘main protagonists’, the film didn’t vilify Teddy and his Delta Psi brothers. For one thing, Mac and Kelly didn’t always make good decisions, especially in regards to raising their daughter, so it’s not like we sided with them all the time. Sometimes we really could sympathize with Teddy and his struggles in coping with the inevitability of graduation and moving on to ‘real life’, which was one of the main themes of the film; how one handles the idea of getting older. In the case of Neighbors 2 the same idea applies. We do root for Mac and Kelly, especially considering there’s more at stake for them this time around given that they’ve already bought another house and are highly dependent on the sale of their old house, but can also side with Shelby and her Kappa Nu sisters for their efforts in combatting the sexism directed towards sororities like theirs. Chloe Grace Moretz does a very solid job taking on the same kind of role that Zac Efron had in the first film, especially when she’s working off of her ‘sisters’ Beth and Nora. Their trio serves as a great foil to Kelly and Mac while also managing to be very sympathetic in regards to their aspirations to beat ‘the system’. Returning members of the cast are great once again; Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne continue to have solid chemistry and the two work off of Zac Efron incredibly well. And as for Efron, once again he proves to be a major standout thanks to his excellent comedic timing, as Teddy finds himself in yet another, as the film puts it, ‘quarter-life crisis’.

While Neighbors 2 hasn’t really gotten the same amount of positive reception that its predecessor did, I have actually seen a few people argue that this film was better than the first, mainly in regards to this one having more depth to it. And while I do understand where they are coming from, ultimately I do think that the first film was better. The sequel definitely does have its moments and once again benefits from an excellent cast. Plus, this film does do a nice job in terms of handling its feminist themes. However, this time around the jokes ended up being a bit more hit and miss. And as great as its feminist angle is, sometimes it’s a little bit too on the nose with it. So in short, Neighbors 2 was a bit of a mixed bag for me, which was rather disappointing because I really liked the original Neighbors. As far as comedy sequels go, I do think that it’s at least one of the better ones but I wouldn’t say that it was one of the ‘absolute best’ either. At the very least I can say that, like the original Neighbors, this film is worthy of becoming a new essential college flick. Because the great thing about both films is that they make a lot of effort to appeal to the college Greek community and while I may not be a member of any fraternity, both of these films do a nice job in conveying the brotherly/sisterly bonds of fraternities and sororities, respectively.

Rating: 2.5/5

Neighbors (2014) review

I’m finding that the quality of most comedies these days tends to vary year in and year out. 2012 was one of the better years for comedies with films like ‘Ted’ and ’21 Jump Street’. 2013, on the other hand, was probably one of the worst years for comedies… ever. And I mean it; a lot of comedies last year really stunk, like ‘Movie 43’ or ‘Grown Ups 2’. That year was so bad that I only remembered one or two ‘good’ comedies and I listed one, ‘The World’s End’, as one of my Top 12 favorite films of the year (partially out of pity for having to be a part of such a crappy year for the genre). But overall this year is looking much better for the genre, at least when it comes to the summer’s lineup of comedies. Later this summer, we’re getting ‘A Million Ways to Die in the West’ and ’22 Jump Street’ but the summer comedy season does get off to a pretty good start with ‘Neighbors’, the latest film from Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, the duo behind last year’s surprise hit ‘This is the End’ (the other ‘good’ comedy of 2013). This time around, they team up with Nicholas Stoller, director of ‘Forgetting Sarah Marshall’ and writer for the recent ‘Muppet’ movies, for a really fun comedy that will also be very pleasing to anyone who’s in a fraternity and I can verify that having seen it with my friend Matt, who is in a fraternity; Sigma Chi’s University of Rhode Island chapter, to be exact.

Mac (Seth Rogen) and Kelly (Rose Byrne) Radner are a couple with a newborn girl who look to maintain their old ‘crazy’ lifestyle but continuously find trouble trying to do so because of their new ‘parent’ statuses. One day, they find that a fraternity from the local university, Delta Psi, have moved in next door and at first, they seem to bond with the frat and their leader Teddy Sanders (Zac Efron)… but that doesn’t last very long. Realizing the troubles that could come from their parties, Mac and Kelly initially ask Teddy and the frat that they ‘keep it down’, which they agree to do but ask that, in return, they come to them first and ask and not call the police. But one night, when they are unable to get in contact with Teddy, Mac and Kelly do end up calling the cops, though while they intend to be anonymous, they do end up getting caught in the act. This ends up resulting in a prank war between the two ‘parties’ as both try to get back at one another with hilarious results.

What’s really interesting about this film is that while it is focused on what can pretty much be called a ‘turf war’ between the Radners and Delta Psi, there’s really no definable ‘villain’ in this film. As the main characters, Mac and Kelly are a really likable couple but at the same time, the movie doesn’t paint their ‘enemies’, Delta Psi, as a bunch of despicable people. You see that Teddy is driven to become a part of Delta Psi history, which is a pretty respectable goal. Not only that, but you can really sense the strong connections that he has with his ‘brothers’, especially the frat’s Vice President, Pete (Dave Franco). As Matt pointed out, this film really does a great job at portraying the relationship between frat brothers, who will stick by each other no matter what even though they do sometimes fight. And that, to me, is why this movie works really well. It’s just a fun little prank war or ‘Family vs. Frat’ as is advertised on the poster and the movie never really feels ‘mean-spirited’. After all, if this film did portray the members of the frat as incredibly unlikable people, then that would just be a bad representation of the Greek community in general and I can tell that this wasn’t the filmmakers’ goal.

And as a comedy, it’s a really funny one and the laughs are pretty consistent throughout. Plus, at just 96 minutes, you never get bored and the film never feels like its dragged out (which, from what I’m hearing, was the main problem with Stoller’s last film ‘The Five Year Engagement’). Even better is the fact that the trailers actually don’t give away all of the jokes in the film, which is a problem that has plagued comedy films in recent years. But of course, a great comedy wouldn’t work without a great cast, and this film’s cast is no exception. Rogen and Byrne have great chemistry (Byrne in particular is a standout; she has great comic timing just as much as Rogen and Efron do and it’s clear that she really shines when it comes to comedic roles), Rogen and Efron have a great ‘back and forth’ camaraderie, and the entire group of Delta Psi, particularly Efron and Franco, really sell their ‘brotherhood’. Like Byrne, Franco is also one of the big standouts in this, particularly during the scene where the frat is hosting a ‘Robert De Niro’ party and he’s the ‘Meet the Fockers’ De Niro (‘You call the cops, you violate the circle of trust, Focker!’)

So, overall, ‘Neighbors’ serves as a very nice start to this year’s summer comedies. Not only is it full of laughs and solidly paced, but it’s also just a fun little movie that’s not really mean-spirited in any way. After all, it could’ve been a lot more mean-spirited had it not portrayed the group of Delta Psi in a fairly positive way. Sure, Rogen and Byrne’s character are the main protagonists, but you can still sympathize with the frat because they have an admirable goal; to become Delta Psi legends. Plus, this is a really nice representation of the ‘brotherhood’ that occurs amongst members of a fraternity. Now, I can’t fully vouch for that seeing how I am not in a fraternity (at least at the time that I’m writing this) but having seen it with someone who is in a fraternity, we both agree that this does do a good job representing fraternities in general. Because of that, ‘Neighbors’ is a film that I do recommend and the first great comedy of the year and I think it’s safe to say that this film is ‘frat approved’.

Rating: 4/5