Movie Date: Bad Neighbours 2 (R21)
It is bad news for the girls, but all good for the guys.
STARRING: Seth Rogen, Rose Byrne, Zac Efron, Chloe Grace Moretz
DIRECTOR: Nicholas Stoller
THE SKINNY: Set a few years after their battle with their next-door frat boys, Mac and Kelly (Rogen and Byrne) are now parents to a toddler and are expecting another baby. They even bought a second home and are in the midst of selling their current place. Just when things start to look rosy, a group of wild sorority girls led by Shelby (Moretz) move in next door, and the couple's nightmare starts all over again.
MARS by JASON JOHNSON
I like everyone in this movie.
Rogen. Efron. Byrne. Moretz.
Dave Franco, Selena Gomez and Lisa Kudrow too.
And also newcomers Kiersey Clemons and Abbi Jacobson.
When everyone is cool, you know you are in good hands because the director obviously has a sense of taste and also some understanding of human beings.
I think I addressed this in my Zoolander 2 review.
As you get older, you have less and less patience for jerks, and you just want to be around truly sweet people.
Bad Neighbours 2 is plenty funny but also pretty smart and sensitive.
It is basically a culture war movie, with young women in a battle against both men and old people.
They don't want to be treated as sex objects, and they don't want to be treated like children.
They want respect and freedom, which seems entirely reasonable.
The message is pushed quite hard, but it is woven into the fabric of this sequel in a very organic way so that it doesn't become overbearing or obnoxious.
I think it might be all about next-wave feminism, but I am not entirely certain as it is hard to keep track of the different forms of feminism.
All I know is that I love women, and this film loves women, and I love this film.
Rating: 4/5
VENUS by JOANNE SOH
I once wrote that Efron was born to play the preening fraternity leader Teddy in 2014's Bad Neighbours.
Well, he's back, more shirtless than before and sporting even tighter and tinier shorts. He has still got it, so he should flaunt it, right?
While Efron is still in his element, the plot misses the point - a lot.
For all the talk about sexism, gender equality and racial profiling that the characters are hammering into you, all these issues are used as jokes.
Also, if they are such smart girls as they claim to be, the sorority sisters come across as really dumb.
Are parties, smoking weed and getting stoned what strong young women only think of every day?
How different are they then from the fraternity boys whom they so despise?
Bad Neighbours 2 should serve as a cautionary tale to parents whose daughters plan to pursue university degrees in the US.
Let's hope that such frivolous, cheap acts are purely Hollywood's perception of college life.
Those who have watched the first movie can spot the rehashed jokes from a mile away. Somehow, they aren't as funny the second time around, even though some gags have become more elaborate.
Still, there are some genuinely hilarious moments. Pity they are few and far between.
Rating: 2/5
THE CONSENSUS: It is bad news for the girls, but all good for the guys.
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