--- title: "Grown Ups 2: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/grown-ups-2/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/grown-ups-2" critics_score: 18 critics_reviews: 16 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Grown Ups 2 (2013): what the critics said Critics' score 18 from 16 reviews: 0 positive, 0 mixed, 16 negative. 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 — Gabe Toro Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 11 July 2013. 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. [Read the review](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/culture/review-grown-ups-2-starring-adam-sandler-kevin-james-chris-rock-david-spade-96160/) ## The Hollywood Reporter — THR Staff Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 10 July 2013. 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. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/grown-ups-2-film-review-583268/) ## RogerEbert.com — Marsha McCreadie Fi1m's normalised score 25/100 (inferred from the text). 12 July 2013. 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. [Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/grown-ups-2-2013) ## Los Angeles Times — Mark Olsen Fi1m's normalised score 20/100 (inferred from the text). 11 July 2013. 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. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-xpm-2013-jul-11-la-et-mn-grown-ups-2-review-20130712-story.html) ## Slant Magazine — Chris Cabin Fi1m's normalised score 20/100 (inferred from the text). 11 July 2013. 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. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/grown-ups-2/) ## The New York Times — Andy Webster Fi1m's normalised score 20/100 (inferred from the text). 11 July 2013. 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. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/12/movies/adam-sandler-and-snl-alumni-return-in-grown-ups-2.html) ## Total Film — Ken McIntyre Fi1m's normalised score 20/100 (inferred from the text). 29 July 2013. 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. [Read the review](https://www.gamesradar.com/grown-ups-2-1-review/) ## Variety — Andrew Barker Fi1m's normalised score 15/100 (inferred from the text). 11 July 2013. 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. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2013/film/reviews/film-review-grown-ups-2-1200561423/) ## Screen Daily Fi1m's normalised score 10/100 (inferred from the text). 12 July 2013. 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. [Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/grown-ups-2/5058274.article) ## The Telegraph — Robbie Collin Fi1m's normalised score 10/100 (inferred from the text). 10 August 2013. 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. [Read the review](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/filmreviews/10234888/Grown-Ups-2-review.html) ## Time Out — Matt Patches Fi1m's normalised score 10/100 (inferred from the text). 5 August 2013. 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. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/grown-ups-2) ## Vulture — Bilge Ebiri Fi1m's normalised score 10/100 (inferred from the text). 12 July 2013. 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. [Read the review](https://www.vulture.com/2013/07/movie-review-grown-ups-2.html) ## Paste — Tim Grierson Rating 2.2/10. 11 July 2013. 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. [Read the review](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/grown-ups-2) ## Den of Geek — Ron Hogan Rating 1/5. 15 July 2013. 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. [Read the review](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/grown-ups-2-review/) ## The Playlist — The Playlist Staff Rating F. 11 July 2013. 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. [Read the review](https://theplaylist.net/review-grown-ups-2-starring-adam-sandler-kevin-james-chris-rock-david-spade-20130711/) ## The Wrap Fi1m's normalised score 10/100 (inferred from the text). 11 July 2013. 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. [Read the review](https://www.thewrap.com/grown-ups-2-review-see-adam-sandler-chris-rock-chuckle-their-own-moronic-jokes-102401/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/grown-ups-2.md