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In 2014, Seth Rogen’s family and Zac Efron’s fraternity faced off in .com/articles/14/NW1400102.php>Neighbors, an amusing but uneven outrageous comedy that didn’t necessarily need a sequel. But the box office returns suggested otherwise—so now they’re back for another battle in Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising.
Neighbors 2 finds Mac and Kelly Radner (Rogen and Rose Byrne) expecting a second child and planning a move to the suburbs. But just as their house goes into escrow, a group of girls rents the house next door with the intention of setting up an independent sorority that isn’t forced to play by the usual rules. Coached by aimless former frat boy Teddy (Efron), the girls of Kappa Nu set out to show up the boys—no matter what their neighbors think. But when they go too far and send Teddy away, he teams up with his former rivals next door to take the girls down.
If you’ve seen the original, you already know what to expect from this not-so-neighborly face-off. The girls fight back in increasingly outrageous—and entirely unlikely—ways. They break into their neighbors’ home and sneak around unnoticed. They scheme, steal, and vandalize without any consequences (nor, it seems, complaints from anyone else in the neighborhood). And they do it all while supposedly fighting for equality—for their right to make their own rules and do everything that their hard-partying male counterparts can.
Unfortunately for these girls, they don’t have the same mischievous charm that Efron did in the original (and that he still has—albeit in a more limited capacity—here). Their story feels more like a cheap copy of a passable comic adventure than a fresh, funny twist on a beloved comedy. The humor generally falls flat, and there’s nothing especially memorable—or even slightly likable—about any of the new characters. Instead of being strong and passionate while standing up for their right to be separate but equal, they seem more like they’re trying too hard to talk and act like guys.
And as they constantly decry sexism and double standards, they often seem to suggest that if you don’t think their antics are funny—or even if you liked the original more than the sequel—it’s just because you’re sexist. But is it sexist to be frustrated by a bunch of girls who set out to be just as stupid and immature as a bunch of dim-witted frat boys? These girls aren’t empowered. They’re stoned and irresponsible—and they look and sound ridiculous in the process.
If you loved watching the battle between Seth Rogen and Zac Efron in Neighbors, you may still enjoy their moments together here. But the new characters fail to bring anything new, interesting, or even funny to this entirely unnecessary sequel.
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