Vacation Friends 2

3 outta 5

Vacation Friends 2 offers up pretty much the same amount of entertainment as the first movie, which is fairly enjoyable. The character interactions are basically the same bit where one character is very loud and the other character’s anger boils over. The movie adds a scheming father to the mix which changes up the dynamic slightly. Overall, the film leans hard on the standard straight man/crazy guy comedic formula which may be predictable but still supplies laughs. A formula is a formula because it works!

Marcus (Lil Rei Howery) and his wife Emily (Yvonne Orji) are on an important vacation where Marcus must meet clients for his job. Accompanying them an expensive resort are their new friends they met on their last vacation, the wild couple Ron (John Cena) and Kyla (Meredith Hagner) and the straight laced Maurillio (Carlos Santos), who is basically tagging along to look after Ron and Kyla’s newborn kid. After a wild night, Marcus discovers the clients have arrived early and the businessman Yeon (Ronny Chieng) is not happy with Marcus’ attitude. An even bigger surprise is the arrival of Kyla’s estranged father, Reese (Steve Buscemi), who is newly released from prison and wants to reconnect with his daughter. She is ecstatic but her dad doesn’t like her husband and, even worse, he is involved with some shady crooks that could cause havoc.

As the last film ended with Marcus and Emily going from accidental associates to genuine friends with Ron and Kyla, their relationship isn’t as overtly antagonistic this time. But after the arrival bender, Marcus is paranoid about screwing up in front of the clients, so he tries to keep things straight. Ron and Kyla love their newborn infant child, they just space out wherever the kid is like when they’re sitting around the airport terminal and a passerby says they found the baby crawling under a table. Maurillio does such a good job as a babysitter he mistakenly thinks a beautiful woman is hitting on him at the resort, but she just wants him to watch her kid. Maurillio’s subplot is basically him just looking haggard while chasing after wayward infants. He is used unexpectedly in the film’s climax when he has to act against type and Santos does a fun job of showing Maurillio is out of his depth.

The addition of Buscemi as the father makes the movie a bit more ambitious than just being a rehash. His shady dealings culminate when he takes the crew for a scuba diving spot that is a floating trash heap so he can find cash in a downed plane. Ron says the water is in terrible condition for scuba diving and he intends to confront a boat speeding towards them thinking it’s another park ranger, but it turns out to be crooks opening fire. The shifty father with a criminal past isn’t exactly an original concept but Buscemi sells it awesomely with his fast-talking schemer. Hagner as his daughter is funny because she absolutely adores her old man who has been missing for years. He only says bad things about his deceased ex-wife but still wishes he was there for his daughter. His attempt at atonement creates a comedic, manic mishap with the mother’s ashes.

Ron is liked by everyone so it’s disturbing to him that Reese doesn’t like him. He constantly tries to ingratiate himself to Reese and he’s confounded that Reese is standoffish. At one point, Reese asks Ron about his previous military service and does the faux pas of asking how many people Reese killed, and Cena’s blurted reaction is both funny and kind of sad. Cena and Hagner are so likable it is hard to dislike them, even when they’re being irresponsible like bringing the baby to a gambling table. When informed they can’t put the crib at the seat on the table, Ron just holds it on the side. Ron’s irresponsibility pays off when Marcus needs him to pinch hit at a drinking contest creating a madcap and near fatal showdown.

Chen as the businessman starts off as an overbearing jerk, and in the scene where he compels Marcus to drink with them he’s especially mean. But his exterior starts to soften showing a broken guy underneath who is too scared to stand up to his boss. Howery as Marcus is excitable or irritated like in the first movie but he’s good at it and his reaction to the craziness is fairly funny. His wife gets some surprising development as Emily realizes she doesn’t want to have a kid which leads to some tension when she is going to reveal that to Marcus. And the payoff to the storyline is surprisingly sweet.

There’s definitely some laughs in Vacation Friends 2, like when the crew is stuck in a sinking cargo container and have to find a way out. And the addition of crooks chasing after them adds some opportunities for chaotic chases. It isn’t a wholly original sequel nor is it a lazy rehash either. It’s more time spent with some wacky characters for some decent laughs and crazy antics, which is good enough.