Vacation Friends 2

I genuinely enjoyed the 2021 movie "Vacation Friends", and when I had the chance to sit down and watch the 2023 sequel "Vacation Friends 2", of course I did so.

However, I have to say that writer and director Clay Tarver delivered a lukewarm sequel here. The script and storyline for "Vacation Friends 2" was generally devoid of the funny and outrageous situations that were in the first movie. And the script felt rather mundane and bland, and I was hardly brought to laughter throughout the course of the 106 minutes that the movie ran for.

The acting performances in "Vacation Friends 2" were fair, and it was nice to see John Cena, Lil Rel Howery, Meredith Hagner and Yvonne Orji return to reprise their characters in the sequel. It was really good to see Steve Buscemi in the movie, though his talent was just not utilized to any great accomplishment in "Vacation Friends 2", which was a shame. And it was certainly also nice to see Carlos Santos on the cast list.

So I found "Vacation Friends 2" to be somewhat of a disappointing viewing experience. And it is hardly a movie that I will be picking up a second time, simply because it was lacking the comedy appeal of the 2021 movie.

My rating of "Vacation Friends 2" lands on a very bland five out of ten stars.

I love John Cena and typically love his movies. Had high hopes for this movie. What a let down! The best parts are the scenery. Having been to Oahu myself I know how beautiful it is. But the comedy is severely lacking. I laughed at a few things but mostly it wasn't funny. I didn't love the fist Vacation Friends movie and considering the reviews I hoped they learned from it and this one would be better.

Lazy writing! Could have been so much better. My 6 year old niece could have done a better job at making it funny. They should have got the writers from blockers to help. That was top notch! John please make better choices for us all!

Beware: this movie is only suited for teenagers. It's THAT silly and farcical. But I wouldnt even dare recommend this movie to any teenager, because there is a lot wrong...

The bad: it's jokes fall flat, almost all of the time. And the jokes are the kind of IN YOUR FACE jokes, that are so obnoxiously cheap, that they annoyed me from start till finish. I didnt laugh once. And what's a comedy without any good jokes? You tell me...

Not any good then? I wanted to see this picture because of John Cena and Steve Buscemi, two actors who have proven themselves to be great (comedy) actors. Steve Buscemi was allright, but John Cena was ridiculously NOT funny.

Please pass this one by, because you will regret watching it...

The first Vacation Friends was a pleasant surprise. The sequel is a step down but still enjoyable. During the first half, I felt like I was laughing as much as in the original. It didn't feel like it missed a beat. But the second half has less laughs.

And it goes a little too outrageous and crosses the line of believability. This is mainly due to the odd inclusion of action scenes. I know it's not meant to be taken seriously, but it hurts the credibility of the whole movie. It doesn't feel as real, more like a fantasy.

Even with all that, I was still entertained and laughed a good amount. Steve Buscemi and Ronny Chieng are nice additions to the cast. (1 viewing, 8/25/2023)

The original was a pleasant surprise to me, as I found myself laughing out loud multiple times. It had some clever writing and scenarios that really made one laugh.

This one...where to start. I almost turned it off in the first 20 minutes. The whole beginning of the movie is little more than "let's scream the F word as loud as possible over and over" and "let's say private things out loud." If you find that funny, you may like it more than I did, but I found it incredibly lazy and just not humorous.

Luckily, it -does- get slightly better after that. There are some mildly funny scenes in it, but the writing just isn't there this time. Don't go in expecting the original, or you'll be let down pretty hard.