Title: Happy Gilmore 2
Director: Kyle Newacheck
Writers: Tim Herlihy, Adam Sandler
Distributor: Netflix
Where to Watch: Netflix

Early in Happy Gilmore 2, the eponymous Happy mentions he needs to make his fantasy world “Happy Place” better suit his age.

This is the sentiment throughout the sequel to the 1996 classic.

It’s been almost 30 years since Adam Sandler first graced theaters as the hockey player-turned-golfer Happy Gilmore and a lot has changed since that time. For one, Sandler is no longer the young, sophomoric actor he once was as the actor is pushing 60 years old.

In many ways, this maturing — if you can call it that about a Sandler film — is reflected throughout the Netflix movie, often swinging between compelling updates to a loss of charm.

Still, Sandler manages to put together a hodge-podge of cameos, inside jokes, and sophomoric humor that may not have the lasting impact of the original, but is sure to give you laughs throughout your viewing.

Spoiler Warning: This review contains mild spoilers.

Synopsis: “We’re not done with golf.”

It’s been almost 30 years since Happy Gilmore (Adam Sandler) first won the Tour Championship. Since 1996, Gilmore went on to have a successful career before accidently killing his wife Virginia (Julie Bowen) during a competition.

Gilmore is left to raise his four sons and one daughter on his own, turning to alcohol to cope and losing much of his wealth in the process. His daughter Vienna (Sunny Sandler) develops into a talented dancer though Gilmore has no money to send her to school.

Gilmore decides to return to golf to earn money for his daughter, finding it difficult to overcome his demons. Meanwhile, Frank Manatee (Benny Safdie) starts a new golf league that aims to replace the traditional format with a more exciting product.

Gilmore rejects Manatee and ends up defending the more traditional Tour Championship. The two leagues faceoff with the winner aiming to erase the other.

Analysis: The more things change, the more they stay the same

In short, Happy Gilmore 2 does a lot right, but does have plenty of missteps, falling into similar traps other sequels do. I think it’s best to break the film down into the good and the bad to better understand it’s pros and cons.

The Good: Cameos and humor are the life blood

The first thing that stood out to me was the sheer amount of cameos in the film, many of them playing prominent roles. The biggest one being Bad Bunny playing Happy’s caddy Oscar. It almost felt like Sandler pulled in everyone that was a fan of the original and gave them a role.

While these performances are not all equals, they never take away from the film. In particular, I loved Eminem’s cameo as Donald Jr., son of the “Jackass” guy from the original. Eminem’s appearance was short but memorable.

Many of the originals stick around such as Christopher McDonald as Shooter McGavin and Ben Stiller as Hal L., the abusive orderly. What’s fun to see is time did pass in the Happy Gilmore world and these characters reflect that.

Surprisingly, there was a lot of growth from them. Shooter and Happy eventually work together. Happy is much more toned down than his younger self. There are plenty of other examples of the passage of time, which helps make the film feel new.

These changes often lead to some truly laugh-out-loud moments. That’s another positive the film has is it is still funny.

That is the goal of any comedy: to make people laugh. Happy Gilmore 2 certainly succeeds at that, though comedy is subjective. That said, if you enjoyed the original, you will have fun with this one.

One great part of Happy being older is his sons could be what he was when he was younger. His four sons were perfect representations of sons following their dad.

It was a great choice to give him kids so we could still get some of the sophomoric humor without Sandler being the one to totally do it. It wouldn’t make sense for a near-60 Happy to act the way he did in 1996 so having his sons do it was a nice touch.

One last positive I loved seeing was Happy Gilmore 2 was truly a family affair. Sandler’s daughter plays Sienna; his wife plays Sienna’s dance instructor; and his other daughter plays a fellow alcoholic support group members.

This leads to some fun chemistry that presents some of Adam’s best moments. It truly comes across that he enjoys working with his family and that was on display.

The Concerns: Plot points and uneven humor

Let me preface this section by saying most of my points here are not major criticisms. Ultimately, Happy Gilmore 2 was uneven and these points are what made it that way.

The major plot issue I had was the charm from the original was gone. What I mean by that is it is distinct enough from the original but at times has strayed too far from the original.

What made the original work was the juxtaposition of Happy with traditional golf. He had a talent for it but didn’t fit the mold. The sequel has Happy actually defending the establishment of golf against a league that was patterned after his image.

It’s this point that pulls Shooter and Happy together, a point that originally drew the two apart. Now, I can accept that Happy grew up, it was nice to see a man near 60 act more his age than one nearing 30.

What made the connection hard was this shift wasn’t developed well thus making the sequel fly in the face of original’s charm. There’s enough here to remind you that this is still crazy Happy Gilmore, but this jump felt too bold.

Now, I understand that’s asking too much of a Sandler comedy movie; no one would be wrong in that assessment. Still, it is these details that separate sequels into either nostalgia bait or a solid film.

There were other points that didn’t quite get the development they deserved with the biggest, for me, being Virginia’s death.

Again, this could’ve been well done, but many aspects were glossed over. The biggest for me was the reason Happy didn’t originally make the Tour Championships’ team was because he performed so poorly on the last day of the tournament because he kept seeing his dead wife.

He quickly overcomes this and returns to form, though we never see how he handles this. He starts drinking during the final round after visions of his dead wife so logic would have you believe it wasn’t the alcohol that caused the main issue, it was the unresolved grief.

Again, I’m not expecting Martin Scorsese level filmmaking. I just would like for some cohesiveness.

Aside from the plot issues, the humor was uneven. The film gave you laugh-out-loud moments, but there was plenty that fell flat. In my opinion, most of that was when the film leaned too hard into nostalgia.

Final Score (3.5 out of 5 Stars)

I’m probably being too generous, but Happy Gilmore 2 gets some leeway because it’s an Adam Sandler movie. That means we come into films like this with a certain expectations.

It’s meant to be a collection of stupid humor that doesn’t always make sense and that’s exactly what the sequel does. Unfortunately, the film does lose much of the charm that made the original special.

Still, Happy Gilmore 2 did a decent job balancing cameos, inside jokes, and sophomoric humor while leaning heavily into nostalgia. At times, that focus on nostalgia is too much, but other times, it lands the joke perfectly.

At the end of the day, there are worse ways to spend two hours. Just know what you are walking in to and you will better temper your expectations.

Happy Gilmore 2 may be uneven, but you will likely laugh if you enjoyed the original. That’s the end goal of a comedy and the sequel does accomplish that.

Featured Image: Netflix (via TV Insider)

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