REVIEW: Bad Neighbours 2 moves in

THE team that brought you the 2014 hit comedy, ‘Bad Neighbours’, is back on the block to unload their storage container of laughs on the local film-going community. 

And what’s more, the original writing crew has been strengthened by the addition of input from the director, Nicholas Stoller (‘The Muppets’ and ‘Get Him To The Greek’), the movie’s star, Seth Rogan, and the much sought after Evan Goldberg (‘Sausage Party’ and ‘Superbad’). Quite the comedic line up indeed.

The film tells the ongoing story of Mac (played by Rogan) and his wife Kelly (Rose Byrne) who must be the unluckiest property owners on the planet. After their previous battles with the out-of-control fraternity who moved in next door and their ring leader Teddy (Zac Ephron), the hippy couple, now expecting their second child, have decided to move out and move on. 

But first they must sell their old house, and the last thing they need is for another raucous bunch of wild teenagers to occupy the adjacent building. But of course that’s exactly what happens, only this time it’s not a fraternity, its the female equivalent, a sorority, led by Shelby, (Chloe Grace Moretz of ‘Kick-Ass’) who form the opposition to their struggle for a little peace and quiet.

The movie opens with Kelly discovering she’s pregnant in a rib-tickling scene that sets the tone for more laughs to come, and quickly moves to establishing Shelby as an independent student who wants to break some rules. 

It then switches to Teddy and his fraternity friends, showing how they have moved on since their college days, and it’s at this point that the film is in danger of unravelling. 

But the three story strands are quickly pulled together as we soon learn that Teddy will now help Shelby in uniting against their common neighbourly enemy, so she can party, and he can settle some old scores.

This is a very funny film, with some great comedy performances, at its most amusing when poking fun and exposing the silliness of political correctness. We score it a side splitting 4 out 5 stars.

Paul O’Rourke