Life is going fine for Mac Radner and pregnant spouse Kelly until the point that the raucous sisters of Kappa Nu move in adjacent door. Things now are much more debaucherous than the brotherhood before it, and Mac and Kelly need to request assistance from their previous foe, Teddy.
Neighbors 2 escapes the dreaded comedy sequel grave yard, and whilst it doesn't top the first film, it has enough laughs and fresh ideas to make its existence feel justified.
There's a lot of empty improv in this Neighbors 2, scenes that have no real direction and no drive; the movie is all digression and shouted exposition.
A few bits of great physical comedy remain, as when Rogen and Efron get locked in a garage. But they could have been taken from - or slipped into - any movie. They have nothing to do with their characters, or the plot.
Director Nicholas Stoller doesn't do much to keep the movie from looking like what it is, a sloppy second helping that, for all its attempts to capture a 2016 zeitgeist, is really just more of the same.
The film's hurry to rush through its plethora of characters becomes a strength, because we don't have enough time to get bored by any one scene. The set pieces may be thin, but they show flickers of genuine warmth.
This sequel turns out to be a gross-out comedy with a pro-woman streak (instead of sexy selfies or bro-luring bacchanals, the sorority throws a "feminist icon" party). And it just about works.
