NEIGHBORS 2: SORORITY RISING Trailer
There’s only a handful of films capable of really surprising you, and 2014’s Neighbors genuinely surprised me. Its ad campaign focused on a brand of bawdy, immature humor that doesn’t work for me, and its poster’s implication of a Seth Rogen vs. Zac Efron battle didn’t add any appeal. Then I sat down and actually watched the film, and while it was raunchy and uneven, there were aspects that I genuinely admired. The writers found a thematic link between the fear of leaving college for real adulthood and the transition into life with a baby, and Rose Byrne stood as a comic force that was never sidelined.
With that success, Neighbors 2 won’t be able to surprise me again, but there’s certainly the possibility of a letdown. Comedy sequels are particularly fraught with inferiority, often getting stuck rehashing the same jokes without adding anything new to the mix. The trailer for Neighbors 2 does show them going back to the same well, but there’s also quite a few positive signs in there.
The writers and director of the original return for the sequel, and given their treatment of Byrne’s character in the first film, I see no reason to think that the influx of female characters for the second go-around won’t be just as successful. They found a funny in-route for the change to a sorority, namely the American tradition that sororities don’t throw parties themselves. And by funny, I mean the clowns-with-machetes style of humor that’s just so horrifying that you either laugh or curl up in despair (watch The Hunting Ground to find out why this practice is so dangerous). The setup makes it look like Neighbors 2 might just have more on its mind than raunch, which is precisely what made the original a success.
And yes, that is Selena Gomez at the beginning of the trailer.
Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising is directed by Nicholas Stoller and stars Chloë Grace Moretz, Zac Efron, Rose Byrne, and Seth Rogen. It will be released in the U.S. on May 20th, 2016 and in the U.K. on May 6th, 2016. For international release dates, click here.
Were you a fan of the first film? Are you excited for a sequel? Let us know in the comments!
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