Happy Gilmore 2 has opened to middling reviews from critics, but fans have largely been celebrating its return because of the nostalgic callbacks and familiar faces.
The highly anticipated sequel to the 1996 cult comedy was released last week on Netflix. It received a score of 65 from critics on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes but 72 from viewers. The original film scored 63 from critics and 85 from viewers.
Adam Sandler reprises his role as the titular hot-tempered but big-hearted golfer as he returns to the sport in order to pay for his daughter to attend a Parisian ballet school. Christopher McDonald returns as Happy’s rival Shooter McGavin, as do Julie Bowen, Ben Stiller, and Dennis Dugan in their roles from the first film. NFL star Travis Kelce and music icons Bad Bunny and Eminem make appearances as well.
“It’s what I expected, so I enjoyed it. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, which is what I was worried about. I liked all the cameos! I laughed during it!! Knowing it’s not supposed to be taken super serious. Just go into the movie knowing it’s a stupid throwback movie. Nothing more nothing less,” wrote a fan who gave the film five stars on Rotten Tomatoes.
“It’s out there but it took me back to being a kid when I watched the first one, which it did a great job of bringing it all back. The cameos were amazing and I enjoyed it,” another said.
“Happy Gilmore 2 was exactly what I expected it to be and I loved it,” a fan said on X. “Oh and I don’t give a s**t if you didn’t like it.”
Critics gave the movie lukewarm reviews, criticising its heavy reliance on cameos and lack of originality. Nick Schager at The Daily Beast gave the sequel a ‘Skip This’ rating, describing it as “arguably the least inspired film in the actor’s canon, if not all of movie history”.
Frank Scheck at The Hollywood Reporter seemed to agree. “The result is less a continuation than an exercise in fan service,” he said. “If you’re watching Happy Gilmore 2 at home, don’t be surprised if some of the cast members show up at your door offering autographed pictures for a fee.”
IndieWire’s Kate Erbland gave the film a B-. “More often than not, it makes the shot,” she said in her review. “Thirty years on, that’s not too bad of a comeback.”
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The Guardian gave it a rating of 3 out of 5. “For the generations who still quote summer comedies from eons ago (ahem),” it said, “Sandler’s second round offers a refreshing trip down memory lane.”
Some fans didn’t share the enthusiasm, however, expressing disappointment with the film’s tone and character changes.
“Is Adam Sandler even acting or just playing himself in this movie. He’s not even the same character from the first Happy Gilmore. This is just an awful movie. I tried very hard but couldn’t even finish it,” a viewer wrote on Rotten Tomatoes.
“Happy Gilmore 2 is one of the most painfully bad movies I’ve ever seen. At no point in this rambling, incoherent mess was there anything even close to something that could be considered funny. I am now dumber for having watched it,” a viewer said on X.
Even the film’s opening scene is proving divisive as Bowen’s Virginia is killed off within the first few minutes.
“What they did to the GOAT Virginia Venit in Happy Gilmore 2 was almost a fatal flaw in the movie,” one person posted on X. “Needed much more Julie Bowen.”
Despite the backlash, the film’s director, Kyle Newacheck, defended the decision to kill off the character. “There’s always a concern when you’re playing with that type of darkness,” he told Slash Film. “But I don’t know, I was never really concerned because it is the driving force [of the film]. If you pull that out, then what do you have? You don’t have anything real. “When I first read the screenplay, [Virginia’s death is] like page five, and I was glued when that happened. So I knew what that feeling felt like, and I knew that people could get over it.”
Happy Gilmore 2 is streaming on Netflix.
