Bad Neighbours 2; Sorority Rising, an honest review

Copyright: Universal Pictures

 Bad Neighbours 2: Sorority Rising is the sequel to the equally hilarious Bad Neighbours. It has a very similar plot to the previous movie, however this time it focuses around a sorority whose leader believes that they should be able to party just as much as frats. This doesn’t agree well with their neighbours who are trying to sell their house and trying to relax after the previous frat house (owned by Zac Efron’s character) was cleared. They decide to make it their mission to again to move/ get rid of the group and their parties which results in a war for rights of the house.

Zac Efron and Seth Rogen return as their characters from the previous movie. I feel both suit the comedy genre best and especially together. They both complement each other and are almost opposites both in and out of character, which I think suits them as a pair even more. Rose Byrne, Ike Barinholtz and Carla Gallo also return to fulfil the “old people” group (named by the girls in the sorority). The movie also features new characters played by Chloe Grace Mortez, Kiersey Clemons and Beanie Feldstien; they create the main plot for the movie to build on.

In typical Bad Neighbours fashion, the jokes were the main priority. The jokes managed to make me laugh genuinely without becoming too cheesy or even annoying. While the jokes were funny for me, they may not be for everyone; the jokes focused around drugs, parenthood and generation differences. In one scene (for example), Chloe Mortez’s character is told to remove the “old people’s” phones so they cannot call for the police. She grabs a Cord phone and runs but falls down because it’s connected to the wall and doesn’t understand what it is. To parents and probably older people, the would find this funny as they’ve experienced the change in technology; however younger audiences have grown up with technology (including myself) so they might not understand the joke as clearly.

Another aspect I think was special to the movie was the fact it was able to entwine serious subjects whilst still remaining a comedy. These included; Parenthood struggles, identity crisis’ and feminism. Seth Rogen’s and Rose Byrne’s characters are expecting a second child but are already struggling with just one; we see this when child turns up with the mothers “play toys” continuously and refuse to give them to her parents. In the end, both characters conclude that there is no such thing as a perfect parent and move on with their lives. Zac Efron’s character is the runt of his frat and struggles to find where he belongs and what to do in the future. He ends up apologising to his friends and becomes a wedding planner for homosexuals (like his friend).  

And lastly, feminism. Feminism is the main reason the movie’s plot exists. Chloe Mortez’s character attends a frats party (a male sorority) which subjects the girls to sex, drugs and provocative dancing. Fair to say she, Kiersey Clemons’ and Beanie Feldstien’s characters didn’t agree with it. They decide to make a sorority to condescend the typical ideas of girl groups and their role on campus’. This aspect is also taken seriously and no jokes are made on it (unless it’s picking fun at the sexist remarks). This I appreciate massively; I am not an extreme feminist but a feminist nonetheless. To see something as controversial as this is a comedy, where it is not harassed for its label is something I’ve never seen. It makes it stand out.

All these reasons and aspects build it towards my favourite movie, and even towards one of my favourite comedies of all time. And contrasting to some of its reviews (a 5.8/10 from letterbox and 5.9/10 from IMDb), I think it deserves a higher title.