The second instalment to a classic that didn’t really require a revival.
By Olivia Hunt, Second Year, English
Dennis Dugan’s Happy Gilmore 2 (2025) is a fairly moving and wholesome piece on Happy’s (Adam Sandler) infiltration of professional American golf, an upper-class landscape he is foreign to. Almost 30 years later, director Kyle Newacheck, alongside the gentle hand of Netflix, create Happy Gilmore 2 (2025), a film that seems to replicate every element of the previous film while completely missing any sense of spirit. Whilst Happy Gilmore 2 aims to go against the problematic and outdated values from the original film, some of Newacheck’s choices are… interesting.
This time, instead of Happy saving his grandma’s house from debt-collectors, he is funding his daughter Vienna’s (Sunny Sandler) ballet lessons in Paris. Not really the same passionate motive, is it? I suppose you’re meant to get the idea that Happy is now in a much different socio-economic setting, yet he still works in a supermarket. Anyway, Newacheck sets Happy back on track to his golfing expertise when the MAXI-Golf organisation, headed by Frank Manatee (Benny Safdie) wants to ‘take over’ the professional golfer world. MAXI-Golf is an extravagant, neon painted overload of noise and chaos; something which traditional golf is not.
Happy sets off on another tour-like championship in which the MAXI professionals play the gold-jackets, but this narrative only hits off in the second half of the film, after countless unnecessary whiplash-inducing cameos that just prove Newacheck has a Netflix budget.
Meanwhile, Happy is also suffering with an alcohol addiction that of course, has to appear in a sickly motif in which he stores a drink in random objects. We see him drink from a cucumber, a golf ball, the TV remote - the list is ongoing. Whilst it appears funny at first, this action is a bit overdone but saved by Happy’s enrolment to Hal. L’s AA group. Yes, the same evil character (Ben Stiller) who managed the care home and forced the elderly to make quilts! This time, he forces the AA members to wash his car, clean his windows and paint his house as a form of twisted therapy. Wouldn’t it be easier to hire someone?
Because this film only survives through previous characters, the antagonist Shooter McGavin (Christopher McDonald) is revealed to be so shaken by the events of the previous film, that he is put in a mental hospital. I felt that his role was redeemed slightly through a positive character arc, in which he actually ends up helping Happy and the golden-jackets group, instead of playing with the MAXI team.
Overall, if you enjoy Adam Sandler films and the incessant pains of cheesy Netflix humour, this film is for you. Or, if you enjoyed the original film, this could be a nice nostalgic piece that picks up on all the references. However, I felt that the narrative put a bit of a sour taste in my mouth: the first film depicts Happy’s motivation to change and challenge the conventions of upper-class golf society, yet this film shows him protecting the world he aimed to infiltrate! Therefore, I would probably rate this film a 4.5/10 – it’s silly but hearty, and a little bit funny.
Featured Image: IMDb
Would you rate Happy Gilmore 2 higher than a pretty sloppy 4.5?
