Happy Gilmore 2 Review: Back to Clubbing

Kyle Newacheck’s Happy Gilmore 2 is a fun and nostalgic legacy sequel that should please fans of the ’90s original.

Well, the good news is that Happy Gilmore 2 is by no means a disaster. By acknowledging both its protagonist’s age and his most important characteristics, the movie manages to serve as a continuation of the original film and as a sufficiently entertaining sequel. It definitely depends a bit on nostalgia, especially whenever it (re)introduces a classic secondary character. But as a pure comedy, it feels very 90s both positively and negatively, which should work for Happy Gilmore 2’s intended audience. Younger viewers, though, might be left wondering what exactly the fuss is about.

As Happy Gilmore 2 starts, we learn that the titular character (Sandler) retired from golf after he accidentally killed her wife, Virginia (Julie Bowen), while playing said sport. Now, he’s been left to raise his four sons by himself, as well as his teenage daughter, Vienna (Sunny Sandler). Unfortunately, he is struggling with alcohol, which prevents him from having a stable job or, most importantly, sending her daughter to ballet school in Paris. Happy feels like a failure, and not even the memory of his wife can help him.

One day, though, he is approached by businessman Frank Manatee (Benny Safdie), who makes him a tempting offer: to join with him in a new company named Maxi Golf, which will be organising a tournament whose objective will be to modernise golf and get rid of the traditional style of the sport. Happy refuses, but conscious of the fact that he needs money to help his daughter fulfil her dream, he joins a traditional golf tournament. At first, he’s not very good, but as he gets better with the help of new caddy Oscar (Benito “Bad Bunny” Martinez Ocasio), he realises that he might just be able to compete in Manatee’s tournament against the villain’s golfers, and save the sport.

Most people don’t watch a wacky comedy like Happy Gilmore 2 for the narrative. Nevertheless, I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that the movie at least tries to tell a relatively emotional story. Yes, some story beats, like Virginia’s ridiculous death, feel right at home in a Happy Madison production. But Happy and Vienna’s relationship serves as the film’s emotional core, with their interactions feeling surprisingly honest and natural. It helps, I presume, that Vienna is portrayed by Sandler’s real-life daughter, who holds her own against her dad.

How does Happy Gilmore 2 work as a comedy, though? Well, I can’t say it made me laugh out loud all the time, but in general, it’s got enough amusing sight gags and absurd dialogue to make the movie feel like a decent counterpart to its predecessor. I particularly enjoyed the return of Shooter McGavin (the great Christopher McDonald), who starts the film in a mental institution, obsessed with getting revenge on Happy, and ends up becoming an ally of his. And then there’s the inclusion of a colourful cast of secondary characters, including the aforementioned Oscar (a surprisingly funny Bad Bunny, who plays the gentle caddy as more of a Good Bunny), or Slim Peterson (Lavell Crawford), the son of Chubbs, played by the legendary Carl Weathers (R.I.P.) in the first film.

Elsewhere, the film has a bunch of cameos, some returning from the original film and others exclusive to this sequel. There’s Steve Buscemi as a weirdo neighbour; Margaret Qualley and Eric André as a couple of golfers; Kevin Nealon as a TV interviewer; Post Malone as a DJ; SNL’s Marcello Hernandez as Oscar’s crazy cousin; Nick Swardson in an old-timey flashback; Eminem as heckler Donald Jr; Jon Lovitz as an amateur golfer; Rob Schneider in a dream sequence; Guy Fieri as the host of the Maxi Golf tournament; Kid Cudi as an FBI Agent; Ben Stiller as Hal L, and I’m probably forgetting others. At times, the movie feels like a “guess the next cameo” contest, but since it’s a silly comedy, it didn’t bother me that much.

Now, something has to be said about Happy Gilmore 2’s look. This is one of the most digital-looking and saturated films I’ve seen in a while, which is doubly bothersome considering the movie injects brief flashbacks from its predecessor from time to time. The contrast between the first instalment’s simple-yet-natural film look and the sequel’s synthetic aesthetic couldn’t be any more evident, making this new movie feel more artificial. I know Happy Gilmore 2 is a comedy that doesn’t pretend to be realistic in any way, but at times, the end product looks more like a commercial than an actual motion picture.

Nevertheless, I had a good time with Happy Gilmore 2. It’s not as fresh or as consistently funny as its predecessor, but at least it manages to be both respectful to it and entertaining enough for audiences with high expectations. Adam Sandler effortlessly wears Happy’s shoes (and handles his golf club) one last time, and the secondary characters are all colourful, cartoonish and fun enough. The movie itself doesn’t have a very pleasant look, but its shortcomings are worth ignoring, considering how entertaining the end product is. Happy Gilmore 2 isn’t on the same level as the first film, but all things considered, it definitely could have been much worse.

Happy Gilmore 2 is now available to stream globally on Netflix.