92 minutes, Comedy, MA15+

NEIGHBORS, as it is named and spelled in its homeland, pitched a premise involving a couple and their newborn baby who find every which way possible to end the endless partying ways of a fraternity club next door. BAD NEIGHBOURS 2 (or NEIGHBORS 2: SORORITY RISING) replaces the fraternity club with exactly what the American title suggests. Oh, and that newborn baby is now old enough to be playing with certain toys she’s wayyyyy too young for! With Mac & Kelly (Seth Rogen & Rose Bryne) losing a bidding war against the uprising females next door, led by Shelby (Chloe Grace Moretz), they enlist the aid of Teddy (Zac Efron), leader of the past fraternity club, to bring the party crashing down.

As pretty much expected, it isn’t only the party next door that could come crashing down. With its best bits laden into the trailers and occurring mostly within the first act, there is a complete lack of freshness and sharpness throughout the rest of the film that inevitably leaves BAD NEIGHBOURS 2 attempting to replicate the tricks that worked for it first time around. The punchy execution and fast-pace placed a big tick in the comical timing box previously, but here the acceleration of all dialogue and scenarios comes off as an attempt to cover up the rather thin material. Further damaging this deconstructing production are a handful of gags and scenarios that should have been evicted from the final cut. As for the sorority girls, the material written for them – an over-emphasis and misunderstanding of anything and everything resembling sexism & an immature discovery of friendship (which I’m sure most other 19 year-old females would cringe at) – severely lets them down. Only Beanie Feldstein as Nora (kind of like a female Jonah Hill with her style and mannerisms) is better than the dirt dished up by her dialogue.

2 out of 5

BAD NEIGHBOURS 2 – Film Trailer

Footnote to Parents
A comedy for ages of 15, just as the MA classification advises. Contains strong use of coarse language, sexual content & references, and drug use. And being a party-themed comedy, lots of wild teen partying.

Moviedoc wishes to thank Universal Pictures and Hoyts Melbourne Central for the invitation to the preview screening of BAD NEIGHBOURS 2.