Grown Ups 2 (2013)
Directed by Dennis Dugan
Lenny has relocated his family back to the small town where he and his friends grew up. This time around, the grown ups are the ones learning lessons from their kids on a day notoriously full of surprises—the last day of school.
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The main antagonists are a grown-up school bully and a snobbish frat boy, played respectively by wrestling legend ''Stone Cold'' Steve Austin and Twilight's Taylor Lautner.
What works: There are some amusing '80s references in there, and Shaquille O'Neal 's acting has come a long way since 1996's "Kazaam."
And in the movie’s climax, they battle against pretty much every other character from the movie (each of them dressed as a different 1980s icon, because they’re all at an impromptu 1980s-themed party at Lenny’s home) in the goofiest extensive rumble since the detour fight in The Cannonball Run.
Written by former “SNL” scribes Tim Herlihy and Fred Wolf and directed by “Grown Ups” helmer Dennis Dugan, even though he was also responsible for the terrible 2011 Sandler comedy “Jack and Jill,” “Grown Ups 2” boasts a plot strand involving obnoxious frat boys led by Taylor Lautner of “Twilight” fame, who force Lenny and his friends to strip naked and leap from the 35-foot quarry cliff to the water below.
The film's cast is nonsensically populated with Sandler regulars, alums from various eras of "Saturday Night Live," random tween talents, a Schwarzenegger-Shriver son, a Victoria's Secret model, Shaquille O'Neal, a character apparently modeled on hip-hop personality Humpty Hump, Steve Austin , a "Hunger Games" actor and Taylor Lautner from the "Twilight" movies.
While I can’t count on just two hands the poor performances by famous people in this film, there wasn’t a bigger offender than “Twilight” star Taylor Lautner.
The main antagonists are a grown-up school bully and a snobbish frat boy, played respectively by wrestling legend ''Stone Cold'' Steve Austin and Twilight's Taylor Lautner.
Adding to the grab-bag feel are a large number of cameos: Shaquille O'Neal and Steve Buscemi take minor roles, and Twilight werewolf Taylor Lautner flexes and flares as a shirtless frat boy who leads his fellow meatheads in clashes with the older guys.
There, they encounter a group of local college frat jerks, headed by Taylor Lautner (in a sobering glimpse at the post-“Twilight” landscape), who develop a ’roided-up vendetta against the old dudes.
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In a mountainous cast featuring what seems to be a hundred recognizable faces, Steve Buscemi (2013's " The Incredible Burt Wonderstone ") continues to show off a fearless comedic side as driving instructor Wiley; Shaquille O'Neal (2006's " Scary Movie 4 ") and Steve Austin (2010's " The Expendables ") are surprisingly inspired as Officer Fluzoo and tough guy Tommy Cavanaugh, and Cheri Oteri (2007's " Southland Tales ") is a happy addition as Penny, the delusional girl from Lenny's past that he doesn't even remember existed.
And as interminable his work was in Blue Streak, Lawrence actually fares even worse here - as his character's motor-mouth tendencies are exacerbated by an ugly emphasis on racist jokes and asides.
In a mountainous cast featuring what seems to be a hundred recognizable faces, Steve Buscemi (2013's " The Incredible Burt Wonderstone ") continues to show off a fearless comedic side as driving instructor Wiley; Shaquille O'Neal (2006's " Scary Movie 4 ") and Steve Austin (2010's " The Expendables ") are surprisingly inspired as Officer Fluzoo and tough guy Tommy Cavanaugh, and Cheri Oteri (2007's " Southland Tales ") is a happy addition as Penny, the delusional girl from Lenny's past that he doesn't even remember existed.
So high above the rest of the movie does this unsung hero fly that we're unsure if Grown Ups 2 was constructed as a The Producers-like ploy to launch the stuntman, or perhaps Lautner, to comedy stardom, bolstering his reputation against the destruction of everyone else's.
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The closest we come to a plot is a “Revenge of the Nerds”-style rivalry with some moronic frat boys (guided, amusingly, by Taylor Lautner).
In a mountainous cast featuring what seems to be a hundred recognizable faces, Steve Buscemi (2013's " The Incredible Burt Wonderstone ") continues to show off a fearless comedic side as driving instructor Wiley; Shaquille O'Neal (2006's " Scary Movie 4 ") and Steve Austin (2010's " The Expendables ") are surprisingly inspired as Officer Fluzoo and tough guy Tommy Cavanaugh, and Cheri Oteri (2007's " Southland Tales ") is a happy addition as Penny, the delusional girl from Lenny's past that he doesn't even remember existed.