Critics’ reviews

Grown Ups 2 (2013)

16 reviews from 16 publications. Critics’ score 18: 0 positive, 0 mixed, 16 negative.

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18
Positive
0
Mixed
0
Negative
16

The consensus on Grown Ups 2 is uniformly negative: all sixteen reviews reject the sequel, with most critics finding its bodily-function jokes repetitive and its cast poorly served. Praise is scarce and confined to isolated moments rather than any sustained strength in the writing, direction or performances. Vulture finds some energy in Taylor Lautner’s frat-boy character, while RogerEbert.com notes occasional fun in scenes such as the campy car wash.

The differences concern how the comedy fails, rather than whether it works. Most critics describe a lazy, slack collection of incidents with little narrative connection; Slant Magazine instead finds conspicuous effort that produces irritation rather than laughs. Several reviews also find the attempts at family warmth unconvincing, particularly when set against the crude or cruel jokes. The spread is narrow: even the less severe notices find an immature rehash, and none offers a qualified recommendation.

IndieWire
11 July 2013 · Gabe Toro
30*

The review finds the film a laborious, out-of-touch effort with a patchy script and juvenile gags that fail to land. It criticizes the disconnect between the rich stars portraying middle-class characters and the insincere attempts at warmth.

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The Hollywood Reporter
10 July 2013 · THR Staff
30*

The sequel is a water-treading rehash unlikely to match the first film's audience, with humor that remains cartoonishly broad and immature despite toning down some buddy nastiness. The Bottom Line notes that this doesn't make it any easier to watch than the original.

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RogerEbert.com
12 July 2013 · Marsha McCreadie
25*

The critic finds the film crude and juvenile with too many gross-out gags and little plot or emotional depth. She singles out the deer urination scene and overall lack of sophistication as complaints while noting occasional fun moments like a campy car wash.

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Los Angeles Times
11 July 2013 · Mark Olsen
20*

The critic describes the film as a slack, lackadaisical effort that reveals Sandler as lazy and unwilling to aim higher. He singles out the opening deer urination gag and overall arrested-development humor as cheap and unworthy of the talent involved.

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Slant Magazine
11 July 2013 · Chris Cabin
20*

The obvious hard work put into this out-of-touch sequel makes it irritating, with a suffocating amount of story and juvenile, revolting comedy that rarely lands. Attempts at familial warmth feel insincere and saccharine, highlighting the disconnect of wealthy stars playing middle-class roles.

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The New York Times
11 July 2013 · Andy Webster
20*

The critic calls the film pap with scattered raunch-lite gags devoid of emotional resonance or connective logic. He singles out the reunion of SNL alumni and flatulence/urination jokes as emblematic of its lazy, disappointing execution.

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Total Film
29 July 2013 · Ken McIntyre
20*

The critic finds the film an equally shameless and shoddy follow-up to the original, full of life lessons and fat gags. The only novelty noted is a deer-piss gag amid the predictable plot about wives, kids and frat-boy rivals.

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Variety
11 July 2013 · Andrew Barker
15*

The critic deems the film among the slackest and laziest major-studio releases in years, barely functioning as narrative. He singles out the deer urination and castration bookends as the closest it comes to any throughline amid random gross-out incidents.

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Screen Daily
12 July 2013
10*

The review brands the sequel a punishingly unfunny abomination that amplifies every flaw of the original. It singles out the endless stream of self-involved mugging and lack of any honest character moments.

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The Telegraph
10 August 2013 · Robbie Collin
10*

The critic delivers a scathing verdict on this Adam Sandler sequel, likening the experience to months of spinal surgery and noting its near-total lack of plot or redeeming qualities. He singles out the crude, leering humor and digitally enhanced vulgarity for particular complaint.

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Time Out
5 August 2013 · Matt Patches
10*

The critic dismisses the film as a lowbrow exercise in potty humour and middle-aged malaise. The opening scene of a deer urinating on the star's face is singled out as emblematic of its rapid descent into crude gags.

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Vulture
12 July 2013 · Bilge Ebiri
10*

The film exemplifies absurd laziness and is the worst of Sandler's career, with leads sleepwalking through gags that are hammered to death or left without context. Minor pleasures come from Taylor Lautner's energetic frat-boy character, but overall it suggests Sandler should take a break.

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Paste
11 July 2013 · 2.2/10 · Tim Grierson
22

The critic calls it one of Adam Sandler's least interesting films and a lazy cash-grab sequel with no good reason to exist. They single out the desperate, episodic use of scatological humor and lack of the original's warmth or communal spirit.

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Den of Geek
15 July 2013 · ★ · Ron Hogan
20

The critic finds the sequel interminable and unfunny, criticizing its cruel jokes about bodily functions and physical oddities along with a wasted cast and sluggish direction.

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The Playlist
11 July 2013 · F · The Playlist Staff
15

The critic calls it a non-movie even worse than the first, plotless with no laughs, focusing on crude jokes about bodily functions and ogling women. They single out the final fart joke involving Salma Hayek as emblematic of its low point.

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The Wrap
11 July 2013
10*

The critic finds the sequel hackneyed, overlong, blisteringly stupid, and a waste of time, with asinine and offensive jokes that repeat endlessly. The one mildly positive note is that Rob Schneider did not return, and an inflatable raft is funnier than the cast.

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Ordered by the weight we give each publication, then by score. Scores are normalised to 100; * means inferred from an unrated review. Summaries are ours, not quotations; follow the links for the reviews themselves. How we rate