Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising Review

Neighbors 2 is the sequel to 2014 comedy which faced off Seth Rogen against Zac Efron in the battle of houses when Zac ran a frat and Seth was just trying to live a regular adult life. Moving forward things have changed with Mac (Seth Rogen) and Kelly (Rose Byrne) expecting their second child so they've decided to move away.

The two have entered a period of escrow with their house so they need to have their place be in top condition for thirty days so that their move is secured. Meanwhile everyone in Teddy's (Zac Efron) life is moving onto the real world he's stuck in limbo after the events of the last movie and a scare sends him spiraling. This is where he runs into a group of ultra feminist young women that are looking to start their own sorority. Heading the group is Shelby (Chloë Grace Moretz) with her two close new friends Beta (Kiersey Clemons) and Nora (Beanie Feldstein).

Their goal is to basically create a sorority where they're able to party just like the frats, but make it focused towards the female population. Teddy assists them with the start-up which instantly clashes with their neighbor's escrow and the battle begins. This battle takes the group across through a series of escalating pranks and hardships as the two groups struggle to survive against one another.

I found the movie to be relatively funny with some well delivered laughs that were also mirrored within the screening audience. It's also probably the funniest movie I've seen this year in terms of consistency with its deliverance. The story aspects weren't the strongest as the goal of purely attempting to party equally with the males was alright, but the push of feminist jokes were somewhat mixed.

There was also a great mix of modern comedy with some more classic and practical pranks thrown in as well. I also noticed that despite having a strong middle section the movie definitely waned at the end becoming far too sentimental as it didn't quite fit the tone of the rest of the movie.

The acting was solid from all involved as they got well into their roles and I was surprised that Zac Efron was actually quite funny in this one with his weak and vulnerable self. For the most part the scenes looked great with one odd CGI section taking place somewhere far away stood out a bit, but generally was fine. The party scenes were also well done and the cinematography was alright though nothing too fancy as it's a comedy.

The Conclusion

Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising was an entertaining and funny movie that featured a good mix of characters that interacted well together in some hilarious ways. The story wasn't the strongest getting a bit too sentimental at the end which was odd, but still a well done film.

I'm sure you'll get a good set of laughs from the film as well as both I and the screening audience most certainly did. I'd also like to mention that the Minions references within the film were damn hilarious and they're a bit of a fun surprise in how they get introduced into the mix.

Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising Review at Theater with Standard Viewing
Screening Provided by NBC Universal

Rating Overall: 7.8