'Grown Ups 2' Provides Fodder For Hilarious and Negative Critical Reviews
It was a big Friday for "Grown Ups 2," when the comedy sequel overcame the sci-fi epic "Pacific Rim" for the biggest earning debut of the week. Of course, none of this actually means the film had to be good.
"Grown Ups 2," starring Kevin James, Adam Sandler, Chris Rock and David Spade, earned an overall rating of 20 our of 100 on review aggregator Metacritic. The film has proven rather entertaining for the critics themselves, at least after they're done sitting through it. Critics are often at their best describing terrible performances, and their pens were certainly sharp when laying into the film.
"Among the slackest, laziest, least movie-like movies released by a major studio in the last decade," wrote Andrew Barker, a reviewer for Variety magazine. "'Grown Ups 2' is perhaps the closest Hollywood has yet come to making 'Ow! My Balls!' seem like a plausible future project,"
The Wrap's Alonso Duralde echoed the sentiment.
"The best that can be said for this who-asked-for-it sequel is that Rob Schneider didn't return," he wrote. "The rest of the cast ... are comically outgunned by an inflatable raft that literally pops up in two scenes. 'Grown Ups 2' is hackneyed, overlong, blisteringly stupid and a waste of everyone's time. If there must be a 'Grown Ups 3,' let it star the raft."
The Hollywood Reporter admitted it wasn't the best film in recent years, but it wasn't the worst.
"It would be dishonest to call 'Grown Ups 2' the most repellent high-profile comedy in recent memory. But that's largely because few moviegoers have memories kind enough to have already erased 2010's 'Grown Ups,'" it reported, mocking the series as a whole.