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Leave it to Adam Sandler to try to save the sport of golf in Netflix's Happy Gilmore 2, the long-awaited sequel (that once seemed impossible) to the 1996 classic golf movie.
In the sequel, he is tasked with taking down a new, innovative golf league, Maxi, which is determined to make golf watchable again. Their new regulations, ranging from a shot clock to a unique surgery, put the integrity of golf at stake. So, Happy has to save it.
It's unclear what this message is supposed to mean on a macro-level. Sandler is not the savior of cinema anyone asked for—you could argue his Netflix partnership is one of the greatest examples of what's wrong with Hollywood—but he's seemingly setting out to make a stand.
However, he can only do it in true Adam Sandler fashion, with the lowest-hanging fruit and some of the most mind-numbing sequences you've ever witnessed. And yet, amidst all of the Netflix schlock Sander has been part of (take the Murder Mystery series or the even more dreadful Hubie Halloween, for example), Happy Gilmore 2 may be his most heartfelt.
Now, that is to be taken with some context. The heartwarming nature of this legacy sequel is sprinkled between the juvenile humor that Sandler made a career out of (there is a poop joke within the first five minutes, which has to be a record, even for Sandler's standards). Still, there's something there at the core of this movie.
You'll have to sift through the noise. Some legacy sequels have beach football scenes; Happy Gilmore 2 opts for bits revolving around pancakes and the lineage of characters from the first movie and A-list cameos.
For once, a Sandler Netflix project didn't elicit a compulsive desire to turn it off. Happy Gilmore represents the Sandler who was on the rise to becoming a movie star. Usually, legacy sequels are lazy, but for Sandler, returning to those roots results in the best performance he has given since Uncut Gems.
Happy Gilmore 2 review: What's it about?
Nearly three decades after the events of the first movie, Happy Gilmore 2 picks up with the title character (Adam Sandler) struggling to come up with the money to send his daughter, Vienna (played by his real-life daughter, Sunny Sandler), to ballet school, which costs $75,000/year (several characters struggle with this math).
After his first Tour Championship, Happy won several more titles. However, a tragic accident causes him to lose it all. No spoilers here, but Happy Gilmore 2 commits the cardinal sin of killing off a legacy character early. Halloween: Resurrection was one of the first infamous examples of this storytelling mechanism.
Rarely does it work. Sure, it creates Happy Gilmore 2's lone emotional arc (it's not as if Sunny Sandler was going to create that on her own), but it somewhat tears down half of what made the original great.
Nonetheless, Happy must return to golf and rebuild himself as a contender. He has to save the sport he never intended to become a star in.
Adam Sandler's return as Happy Gilmore
Sandler has not changed much since starring in Happy Gilmore in 1996. In between the two movies, he showed his dramatic acting chops in Punch Drunk Love and Uncut Gems. However, playing Happy is closer to his comfort zone.
There are some dramatic beats in Happy Gilmore 2, and Sandler seems to care about hitting them. Sander is a capable actor, but in recent years, he has been opting for mind-numbing roles.
Happy Gilmore may be the role Sandler is most connected to. Apparently, movies with sports ties are his best projects. There's no arguing that Sandler's performance in Happy Gilmore 2 is on Daniel Day-Lewis' level, but this is his best Netflix movie aside from Hustle.
He also co-wrote the script with his frequent collaborator, Tim Herlihy. Consistency is key, and it's clear that the two who wrote Happy Gilmore wrote the sequel.
They make some choices that work and some that don't. The opening twist is a misfire, but most of the scenes with Happy's sons — one of which is played by AEW's MJF — are actually funny.
Cameos galore
The biggest problem is that Happy Gilmore 2 serves as a cameo-fest more than a proper sequel. Travis Kelce and Stephen A. Smith's appearances have no reason to exist beyond adding A-listers to the cast.
It is like Avengers: Endgame for those who enjoy Sandler's movies. The only ones that make sense are the real-life golfers and Bad Bunny, who has a pivotal role.
Sandler also enlists the help of his daughters, Sunny and Sadie, as well as his wife, Jackie, to fill out the cast. They previously all starred in You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah. Blatant nepotism aside, Sunny isn't yet capable enough to handle such a dramatic role. Most of the emotional weight of the movie rests on her shoulders.
One would think the real-life connection between father and daughter would work in a movie's favor. Their chemistry worked a lot better in You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah, which Sandler was not the focal point of.
Returning cast members
Sandler isn't the only main cast member to return for the sequel. Julie Bowen, Christopher McDonald, and Ben Stiller all reprise their respective roles.
For as much things have changed in the last 30 years, these actors have not. Bowen gets the least to do (perhaps she understandably didn't want to be involved in the sequel), which is unfortunate. McDonald and Stiller pick up right where they left off 29 years ago. Stiller somehow amps up the sleaziness of his character.
McDonald's return as Shooter McGavin, the golfer Happy defeats in the first movie, is uneven. He is still rotting in a jail cell when Happy Gilmore 2 begins. Even 30 years later, he only thinks about his loss to Happy.
He is then recruited by Benny Safdie's character to join Maxi. This sets the character on an unlikely arc back to Happy. Out of the new cast members, Safdie gives the most charismatic performance.
Safdie has acted in dramatic roles (Good Time) and more comedic ones (Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret). He plays the narcissistic, corrupt CEO so well.
Is Happy Gilmore 2 better than the original?
Improving upon the original Happy Gilmore is not a high bar. Happy Gilmore 2 being better than the original is not the same as The Godfather Part II being better than The Godfather. Still, Sandler — who's approaching the back nine of his career — deserves some credit for making a watchable movie, which he has proven to be a difficult task.
You can see the biggest flaws coming from a mile away. There is a heavy focus on cameos, with very few of them serving the story. In turn, it feels like an Avengers movie for the ASCU (Adam Sandler Cinematic Universe) movies. The story, while rudimentary, takes a big swing early on that could lose some viewers.
So, Happy Gilmore 2 is aggressively fine. If you're a die-hard fan of the first, the sequel doesn't deviate from the formula. If you're hoping for the next great golf movie, you will be disappointed.
It's just the next step in the progression of Sandler and Netflix's partnership. The '90s felt like a sacred time where you could make movies without sequels. At this point, Big Daddy 2 (with the Sprouse twins) feels like an inevitability.
Grade: C
Happy Gilmore 2 will be streaming on Netflix on July 25.
