Sister sludge

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This article was published 19/05/2016 (3774 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There is a tendency in comedy sequels to go with what has already worked. If you recall that awkward opening sex scene from the first Neighbors movie, you’ll see that it’s matched by an even more awkward opening sex scene in this followup. Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne once again go for some supremely anti-erotic bedroom action, and this time it involves morning sickness.

How you feel about that might determine how you feel about this often funny, frequently gross, sometimes repetitive outing.

Neighbors 2 starts with the same situation as the 2014 original: Two 30-something parents, Mac and Kelly, this time with a toddler and another baby on the way, find themselves feuding with their neighbours. Last time it was a raucous, rowdy, boozy, noisy fireworks-loving frat house. This time it’s a renegade sorority, Kappa Nu, proving the female is deadlier — or, in this case, raunchier — than the male.

The first film got some of its humour from seemingly perpetual stoner-slacker Rogen inexplicably finding himself as a grown-up, with a wife, a baby, a house and a real job, the kind that involves files. (As in, “I need the Mendelson file by end of day.”)

Mac and Kelly are still ambivalent about their adult status. They initially attempt to get the girls onside by attempting to prove they’re still cool, still spontaneous, still smoking a ton of weed. Relations rapidly deteriorate, however, and both sides embark on an escalating series of pranks and sabotage.

Zac Efron plays rather touchingly against his ridiculous good looks, reprising his role as frat boy Teddy, who has lost his way post-college. Caught in a quarter-life crisis, he initially finds new purpose in helping Kappa Nu battle Mac and Kelly, but those surprisingly ruthless sorority sisters eventually exile him to the “lame old people” side.

As with the first movie, the funniest moments are the casual throwaway lines and semi-improvised conversational riffing. The big comic setups — a sorority girl going through the window of Mac’s car, weaponized tampons, bedbug infiltration and, of course, airbag humour — are hit and miss.

The airbags gags represent the sequel’s weakest tendencies. Unexpected and hilarious in the first film, they’re pointless and lazily executed here. This is even more disappointing because the script’s departures from the original template can be funny and fresh, even subversive.

The Kappa Nu sorority is formed by a trio of misfit gals, Shelby, Beth and Nora (Chloë Grace Moretz, Kiersey Clemons and Beanie Feldstein), when they discover that American sororities are not allowed to throw parties in their own houses. “Only frats can,” explains Selena Gomez, making a brief cameo as a platonically perfect sorority leader. “Google it.”

(I did. And it’s true, though the National Panhellenic Conference explains the no-party rule is not mandatory but a recommendation voluntarily adopted by the organization’s individual sororities to keep alcohol out of their houses.)

Rejecting frat parties and their “super-rapey” environment, as Beth calls it, the young women are determined to start their own house and throw their own parties. As Shelby’s father puts it, “You get to be just as dumb as boys now.”

In a world that values dopey humour, that’s an important form of equality. And in some ways, Neighbors 2 can be seen as repentance. The story features a non-nervous portrayal of a gay couple, for example, counteracting the vaguely homophobic vibe found in previous Rogen movies like Superbad. It also challenges the bro-ish atmosphere of many Rogen collaborations, specifically the penis-intensive jokes of the last Neighbors movie.

Just as importantly, the progressive girl-positive content never feels earnest or mandatory or tacked on. It’s actually funny, as Moretz and crew fight for their right to party, feminist-style.

alison.gillmor@freepress.mb.ca