By: Jesse Striewski

The original Happy Gilmore was Adam Sandler in his prime; I can remember sitting there in the theater laughing with friends in 1996, just one year after he began his domination of modern comedy with 1995’s Billy Madison. It was harmless enough fun that we relished in back in those days.

Happy Gilmore 2 is definitely…a different story. It starts off innocently enough, with Happy (Sandler) washed up and at rock bottom. With the help of his (mostly grown) kids (one of which is played by one of Sandlers’ real-life children to appear in the film, Sunny Sandler), he reaches sobriety and returns to professional golf while battling a new competitive league called Maxi Golf.

The premise/setup alone is fine, but the execution is muddled with far too many crude, over-the-top jokes that often fall flat. The nostalgia and throwback references are definitely there, as are many familiar faces (Julie Bowen, Christopher McDonald, and Ben Stiller all return from the first film, among others), and the supporting roles and cameos are far too many to even mention (though real-life pro golfer John Daly is perfect in an extreme version of his self, and modern WWE legend Becky Lynch is always pleasing on the eyes no matter what she may be in).

Whereas the first Happy Gilmore was ripe with quick one-liners and had it’s own unique, quaint charm, this belated sequel tries to cram in as much absurdity as it can within its two hour runtime and hopes you overlook all of its many flaws (much like another recent Sandler vehicle, Hubie Halloween). Again, the concept is there, but the heart of it mostly falls through the cracks; a little less would’ve likely gone a lot further this time around.

Rating: 2/5 Stars