Table of Contents
1 A Sequel That Plays Like a Midlife Crisis (And We’re Here For It)
Let’s address the elephant in the room: Happy Gilmore 2 has no reason to exist—and that’s precisely why it works. Twenty-nine years after the original, Adam Sandler’s rage-golfer returns in a sequel that’s less a movie and more a $100 million inside joke for Gen Xers who still quote “The price is wrong, bob” at family barbecues.
This isn’t filmmaking. It’s cinematic karaoke. And against all odds, it’s weirdly enjoyable—like finding out your dad’s old college drinking stories still hold up.
2 Plot? What Plot? (Don’t Worry, Neither Did the Writers)
The “story,” if we’re generous:
- Happy Gilmore (Sandler) is now a broke, widowed mess after a golf ball literally kills his wife (Julie Bowen, exiting the script faster than a sensible person at a Sandler pitch meeting).
- His ballet-bound daughter (Sunny Sandler, because of course) needs tuition, so Happy dusts off his clubs for “Maxi Golf”—a dystopian golf league where players have bionic limbs and the corporate villain (Benny Safdie) has breath so bad it’s a character trait.
- Shooter McGavin (Christopher McDonald) escapes a mental institution to sneer, monologue, and remind us he’s the only actor here trying.
The script? A Frankenstein’s monster of callbacks, celebrity cameos (Bad Bunny as a shirtless caddie? Sure!), and jokes that land somewhere between “Why?“ and “Why not?”
3 The Good, The Bad, and The “Wait, Did That Just Happen?”
- Christopher McDonald: The man devours scenery like Shooter at a buffet. His unhinged performance is the only thing here with Oscar-worthy commitment (if Oscars had a “Best Villain Who Clearly Didn’t Read the Script”category).
- Nostalgia Overdose: From Chubbs’ ghost(now played by Lavell Crawford with a detachable prosthetic hand) to a cemetery brawl over tombstones of dead characters, this film is a “Remember This?” highlight reel.
- Adam Sandler’s Autopilot: Sandler phones it in like a man texting his agent “How much longer?”between takes. But let’s be real—his fans don’t want nuance. They want him yelling at golf carts. Mission accomplished.
- Ben Stiller’s Sobriety Coach: A role so pointless it feels like a contractual obligation. His cameo exists solely to remind us that Zoolander 2wasn’t the worst sequel of his career.
4 The Verdict: A Hole-in-One for Fans, a Sand Trap for Cinema
Happy Gilmore 2 is a beautiful disaster. It’s lazy, shameless, and so aggressively stupid that it circles back to charming. Like the original, it operates on the principle that if you swing hard enough, even a shank can roll onto the fairway.
Rating: 3 out of 5 Mulligans
- For Fans: A victory lap worth taking. Bring beer.
- For Film Critics: A crime against cinema. Bring aspirin.
- For Everyone Else: Watch the first 10 minutes. You’ll know by then if you’re in or out.
This isn’t Caddyshack. It’s not even Happy Gilmore. It’s Adam Sandler yelling “Grizzly Adams DID have a beard!” into the void—and the void yelling back “We missed you, man.”
Now streaming on Netflix, because where else?
Giostanovlatto – Bali Today
