Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising

The 2014 comedy Neighbors didn’t strictly require a sequel; the ending found new parents Mac and Kelly Radner (Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne) happily settled into their new house and former frat president Teddy Sanders (Zac Efron) working as a shirtless model outside a clothing store. Teddy seemed to have found his level, but as Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising opens it turns out he’s still working retail and about to be kicked out of his room by newly engaged former frat brother Pete (Dave Franco). Neighbors 2, directed by the returning Nicholas Stoller from an all-hands-on-deck script, is a blunt but very funny sequel that doesn’t quite touch the fleeting nature of the college experience in the same way the original did but which is still very funny. Mac and Kelly and are expecting their second child and looking to sell their house and move to the suburbs. The 30 days that the Radners are “escrow” — there’s a running joke about their ignorance of the term — are a nervous month of running out the clock. At the same time, freshman Shelby (Chloe Grace Moretz) and friends Beth (Kiersey Clemons) and Nora (Beanie Feldstein) reject the rush process and start their own sorority next door to the Radners. With Teddy switching sides in his quest to be “of value”, the war is on.

The greatest achievement of Neighbors 2 is the way it gives Shelby and her Kappa Nu sisters room to be just as bawdy and funny as the frat guys we met last time out. Kappa Nu’s mission is to throw parties that aren’t “rapey”; there’s a strong feminist streak and a few great sight gags involving everyone from Hillary Clinton to the Minions. The only time the comic momentum slows down is when the script calls for Shelby to bluntly state the purpose of Kappa Nu: individuality, identity, sisterhood. As the plot unwinds — a major set piece involves the Radners’ efforts to steal a bag of marijuana — the escalation starts to feel a little labored until the inevitable call back to the air bag joke of the first film. What saves Neighbors 2 from collapsing under script mechanics are the willingness of Rose Byrne and (in a smaller role) Carla Gallo to go full out for a laugh. Chloe Moretz is committed but lacks Byrne’s comfort with this kind of material. Neighbors 2 has an admirably progressive spirit and as many belly laughs as I’ve had in a long time. It may be a better sequel than we deserve.