Grown Ups 2

Expectations:
Sequels, sequels, sequels... Engulfing the world in which we live. Sure, it's ok when giant hits like Iron Man and Paranormal Activity get follow ups, but do we really need a sequel to films like Red and Grown Ups? If it really is all about the money (and it is), then films with mediocre box office success shouldn't be getting the sequel treatment. Nevertheless, here we are. Not only did Adam Sandler give us a sequel to Grown Ups, but he also convinced me to give him $15 and two hours of my weekend. Time I will never get back. My expectations for Grown Ups 2 were lower than my expectations for any film this year, to this point. However, I hadn't been to the theater in 10 days and was starting to have serious withdrawals. So, without much hope of enjoyment, I headed to the theater to watch Adam Sandler continue to destroy his career...

Plot:
There just wasn't one... not one little bit of one. The entire film was designed around a party at the home of a 40 year old man with three children, which was actually more exciting than it sounds, although completely ridiculous. Sure, each character had something going on in their life that made them significant individually, but there was absolutely nothing to tie together the various characters. The only aspect of the plot that was remotely funny was the over-zealous fraternity brother scenes, featuring Taylor Lautner. While they were way over the top, it was actually a good idea. I was hoping the car wash scene with Andy Samberg and crew would also shine, but it was basically exactly the same as what you saw in the trailer.

Character:
There is no doubt that Rob Schneider wins the award for smartest actor to star in Grown Ups 2... because he doesn't star in Grown Ups 2. Nobody really knows why Schneider didn't want to be a part of the sequel, but, if he read the script at some point, that probably didn't help them win him over. However, it was probably because of money, as Schneider has never shied away from stupid films in the past.

Negatives:
Pretty much EVERYONE! The underuse of Maya Rudolph and Andy Samberg mixed with the overuse of Alexander Ludwig and Tim Meadows just made for a disastrous cast, aside from the four main cast members.

Positives:
It's pretty hard for the four guys pictured above to do anything that isn't funny, and that remained true with their individual moments in Grown Ups 2. David Spade was still his perveted, ridiculous self. Chris Rock was still whiny and sarcastically black. Kevin James was still fat. And, finally, Adam Sandler, the leader of the infamous crew, was his usual hilarious self . The best part of the first film was watching these four interact, and, with Grown Ups 2, the attempt to create 10,000 cameos really took away from the story that could have just focused on these four friends.

Conclusion:
Many times, in the past, low expectations have been met with slightly impressive results, which is always a pleasant surprise. Unfortunately, with Grown Ups 2, I don't believe I could have set my expectations low enough. There are many movies that lack what it takes to make an entirely impressive film, and then there are some films (Grown Ups 2) that have absolutely nothing going for them. As stupid as Pacific Rim looked, I don't think there is any way that it could have been as bad as Grown Ups 2. If you have $15, please go to Raising Cane's, buy some $5 DVDs, or donate it to a nice charity. But, whatever you do, stay away from Grown Ups 2! I give Grown Ups 2 1.10 out of 5 stars.

What to Expect When You're Expecting

Expectations:
Honestly, I thought this movie was going to be one of the funniest of the summer. There are a ton of hilarious jokes and happenings that can revolve around pregnancy, and we all know it. As I said with The Avengers, it was obvious that there were going to be many, many major characters, which is a huge risk to take with any movie. While all of these characters had potential, I was truly looking forward to seeing the dads group (led by Chris Rock). The previews, obviously meant to suck men into an otherwise female-led comedy, were quite funny when the dads group was present. What to Expect was a great idea with a lot of potential, but there was also a lot of potential for FAILURE...

Plot:
Let's just call it "lacking," for lack of a better negative adjective. There was absolutely NOOOO flow to the film at all, which really led to a bunch of confusing, emotional moments that made me want to kill myself. One second we would be laughing and carrying on, then, suddenly, it was like the saddest movie you could ever watch. On top of the confusion, there was really very little to tie the various storylines together. Usually movies with many stars will bring those stars together in some way, but that wasn't the case with this film. Everybody did have some connection; however, the connection was usually completely pointless and small. There just wasn't any clear plot, which usually means that the whole movie just sucks.

Characters:
This is the segment of this review where I have to be very careful. While I have hated a fair amount on the movie so far, I do believe that there were some very funny and great characters in this film. If you would have taken any one or two of the thousands of pregnancy stories that made up this film and made a separate movie with only those stories, the movie would have been much funnier and successful. You just couldn't really enjoy the time given to one couple, because you knew that the time would soon run out. However, I don't have much criticism for the actors in this film (except for Cameron Diaz, who I just can't stand in general). The dads group was hilarious. The relationship between Ramsey (Dennis Quaid) and Gary (Ben Falcone) made for many laughs and an emotional moment. Elizabeth Banks was rather funny just by herself. The problem lied in the fact that there was just too much going on.

Best Character: Craig, played by Thomas Lennon, was undoubtedly my favorite character. It may be because the character was great, but it very well could be because I think that Thomas Lennon is one of the funniest men on the planet. Also, a shoutout to Rebel Wilson for being so dern funny/ugly!

Worst Character: Move on over Cameron Diaz! She should be ashamed that she wasn't the worst. I have to, unfortunately, give the worst honor to Anna Kendrick's Rosie, who was just bad. Normally Kendrick is one of my favorite actresses, but she just didn't have it for this one.

Conclusion:
It's fairly simple: DON'T GO!!! I can see where some girls might enjoy the sappy sad parts of the film, but, other than that, there isn't much to it. If I were you and I really wanted to see the movie, I would rent it at the Redbox and fast forward to the dads' club scenes. Those really are the only memorably good scenes of the film. Particularly when Chris Rock's kid is getting kicked in the head with a ball or something. This was just one of those star-studded films with no storyline, and I must admit that I get excited when said films struggle at the box office like this movie did. Stars don't deserve to be paid billions for acting for a day and a half just so their name can be thrown in the hat. Movies like these hold back the future of Hollywood, and that disappoints me. I give What to Expect When You're Expecting 2.01 out of 5 stars.