"Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising" (2016 release; 92 min.) brings the return of Mac and Kelly and their daughter Stella. As the movie opens, we see Mac and Kelly making love until Kelly she throws up on him. "I think I may be pregnant!" she cries out. We then move "4 Months Later", as Mac and Kelly have found a potential buyer for the house but now must go through the 30 days escrow period. In a parallel story line, we get to know Shelby, a freshman. She is rushing Phi Lambda. When she learns that the sorority cannot throw parties but instead must attend parties at the frats, Shelby and 2 new friends decide to start their own sorority, Kappa Nu, outside of the existing sorority system so they can do whatever they want. When looking for a sorority house, they end up next to Mac and Kelly (of course). At this point we're not even 15 minutes into the movie, but to tell you more would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.
Couple of comments: most of the crew and cast from the first movie have returned for the sequel, and hence we get Seth Rogan (Mac) and Rose Byrne (Kelly), but of course also Zac Efron as Teddy, doing the same old 'dumb jock' stud as in the first movie (with the required striptease of course). But the sequel benefits most from the addition of Chloë Grace Moretz in the role of Shelby, Moretz, the erstwhile 'child actress' (in Kick-Ass) is all frown up now, and has transformed herself into a leading actress, see also earlier this year's "The 5th Wave". As Shelby, she and her gals are all about grrrl power and equal rights, but in a fun and non-preachy way, and that helps the movie greatly. Yes, there is a lot of partying in the movie, but rarely in a way that is degrading for women. Keep an eye out for Lisa Kudrow as the university dean (she plays in exactly one scene) and Kelsey Grammar as Shelby's dad (also in all of one scene). Other than that, this movie doesn't intend to be anything other than a mindless entertaining sequel to the first one, and at that it succeeds. So enjoy it for what it is, nothing more, nothing less.
"Neighbors 2" is now in its second week of release, and the Memorial Day early evening screening where I saw this at here in Cincinnati was attended okay but not great. Probably the picture-perfect weather was a factor, but the truth also is that the sequel hasn't done nearly as well at the box office as expected. It's a bit of a surprise to me as this movie surely is truth-in-advertising: you wanted more of what you saw in the first movie? Well here it is. If you have seen the first movie and wonder whether the sequel is worth checking out, by all means give this once a chance, be it in the theater, on Amazon Instant Video or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, I think you will not be disappointed.
