Vacation Friends 2 Review: Dysfunctional Families Are The Best Kinds of Families
Vacation Friends 2
Director: Clay Tarver
6.5
Rating: 6.5/10
Compared to the first Vacation Friends, I can easily say that Vacation Friends 2 isn’t as entertaining. Where the first movie was unhinged and had its funny moments, Vacation Friends 2 didn’t have the same vibe. Instead, it has a few characters that were honestly annoying and hard to watch. Reese, I’m looking at you.
The only reason to watch this movie is if you enjoyed the original cast. Honestly speaking, Reese’s character completely ruins this movie. Yeon was interesting as well, but he wasn’t as annoying as Reese. The ending of the movie does wrap up nicely, but it doesn’t exactly excuse how much of a pain it was to watch until that point.
So, starting off with the plot, I think this aspect was a bit off compared to the first movie as well. Whereas Vacation Friends felt more lighthearted and unhinged, Vacation Friends 2 felt a lot more grounded. In Vacation Friends 2, all the plot points felt more serious, and you can feel the consequences a lot more. The stakes were higher, and the comedy didn’t match up to the stakes.
In the first movie, we watched a bunch of adults loosen up and get wild, which led to some funny moments. In this movie, however, we get stuck in family tension and drug trafficking. Maybe this isn’t my kind of comedy, but I didn’t find this movie funny. Now, the plotline with Marcus and the hotel company was alright compared to the Reese plotline. I do like how Marcus does get the job after everything he’s been through. That’s probably the only redeeming part of the story. The drug and gang stuff, not as enjoyable.
Alright, the main area that I didn’t like about this movie compared to the first was definitely the new characters. In Vacation Friends, the majority of the time was spent with the core cast. And honestly, I like the chemistry between Marcus, Emily, Kyla, and Ron. Marcus and Emily’s conservative nature was a fun clash against Ron and Kyla’s craziness. Now when it comes to Vacation Friends 2, there are two prominent new characters, Yeon and Reese.
Of the two, Yeon is definitely better. Now I understand that both Yeon and Reese were made to mirror each other, being a character that opposes Marcus and Ron accordingly. Now, when it comes to Yeon, I like his character a lot more. Yes, he is a bit of a butt the first time you meet him, but as the movie progresses, you see how he begins to respect and like Marcus.
What’s even better, we even learn that his attitude towards Marcus is due to him projecting his own insecurities from work due to Mrs. Kim. In the final moments of the movie, when we see Yeon stand up for Marcus, it feels great because we come full circle. It was a solid moment that I enjoyed in the movie.
Reese, on the other hand, just felt like too much. I know that his character is supposed to resemble the overbearing father where the son-in-law is never good enough for him. This on its own would have been alright, but combining that with his sketchy behaviour? I think it was a bit too much. There wasn’t anything likeable or redeemable about the character.
Every time he was on screen, I couldn’t stand it. I know they tried to redeem his character at the end of the movie, but one small scene where it was revealed that he broke out of prison to see Kyla and now respects Ron? Too little, too late. This small scene wasn’t enough to break away from the annoyance I felt the whole movie.
Overall, Vacation Friends 2 wasn’t as good as the first movie. Where the first movie had a fun plot and crazy antics, there was nothing about Vacation Friends 2 that sparked that same feeling. Instead, we get a movie that tries to be a comedy, yet tries to tackle familial problems as well. The only reason I would watch this movie is if you really liked the first one. Other than that, I can’t say it’s entirely worth it due to the awful new characters.