Happy Gilmore 2 | Review by: Benjamin Garrett

Despite their mostly awful decade-long track record together, Adam Sandler and Netflix had a lot riding on this legacy sequel. Happy Gilmore is a beloved staple of 90’s comedy, so the hype, and fans’ expectations for this long awaited follow-up were understandably high. The good news is, Happy Gilmore 2 is not a total piece of sh*t (like the ones Shooter McGavin allegedly eats for breakfast). The bad news is, it fails to live up to the original in just about every way imaginable.

This is a nostalgia bomb that banks on viewers’ love of the original. Between countless flashbacks, callbacks, cameos and needle drops, there’s no shortage of “hey, remember this” going on in this sequel. Did I belly laugh when Rob Schneider inevitably showed up for 5 seconds to say “You can do it!”? You bet I did. Was I hit with a rush of serotonin hearing Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Tuesday’s Gone” again? I sure was. The nostalgia bait is everywhere, and it’s mostly effective, but it can’t mask the sheer level of stupidity that’s become synonymous with modern Happy Madison productions.

To be fair, the first act is surprisingly restrained, and while not all of the jokes land, it feels in line with the goofiness of the original. The events that transpired in the 20+ years between films feels like a natural and logical continuation of Happy’s story. As it goes on, though, it gradually gets a lot dumber - and I do mean A LOT. Listen, I don’t expect or want the humour in this kind of movie to be high-brow, but there’s so much that feels like it was written by an actual child. It’s a shame, because with the kind of script restraint that was present during that first 30-40 minutes, this could’ve been a legacy sequel that lived up to the legacy it was continuing.

Happy Gilmore 2 is a few dozen strokes over par, but fans of the original may find this legacy sequel tees up just enough nostalgia to get by. It isn’t lazy or passionless, and although it’s frequently dumb with a capital D, it’s far from the worst effort Happy Madison has given us.

2/5

Review by: Stefano Bove

Boss Level Film Review

Boss Level is a new addition to the time loop genre, with a twist. Ex-special forces officer, Roy Pulver, played by Frank Grillo, relives the same day until he dies. Every day he is hunted by assassins and when killed, he wakes up back in his bed where he started, only to have to try and survive all over again. Roy has no idea why he is stuck in this infinite time loop but he must do what he can to survive, and the longer he survives, the more he uncovers about his particular situation. Unlike most action films that take time to build up, this film gets right into it and offers tons of non-stop combat sequences that would satisfy any lover of action films. Its erratic flow makes for some fun action scenes which come out of nowhere since Roy can expect the assassins to attack at any moment. If you play video games often and have ever been stuck on a level for hours or even days, you know the feeling of having to repeat the same thing over and over again u...

Godzilla vs. Kong Film Review

Godzilla versus Kong is the action movie we have been longing for since all major blockbuster films pushed back their release dates. After three solo films between Kong and Godzilla, we finally see the two titans clash on film for the first time in what is the culmination of the Universal Monsterverse. The story is split nicely in two as team Kong and team Godzilla each have their own mission. Team Kong is on a secret mission to the center of the earth to uncover the mystery of the titans. This team consists of Dr. Nathan, Dr. Ilene, Maia, and the Youngest character in the film, Jia. Team Godzilla consists of Madison, Josh, and Bernie who are also on a secret mission, to infiltrate Apex Cybernetics with the theory that they are up to no good and are the reason why Godzilla has been acting up recently. The dynamics of the teams are well balanced as the Kong story provides us with serious and more action-heavy bits in contrast to the Apex team story that ...

Better Man | Review by: Benjamin Garrett

What at first feels like a CGI gimmick allows Better Man to climb and swing it’s way beyond standard biopic conventions. This larger than life musical is worth a watch even if, like me, you needed to ask “Who the hell is Robbie Williams?”. A pop icon in the UK who didn’t quite make a household name for himself in North America, Robbie Williams bares his life (the good the bad and the drug fueled ugly) in this dazzling account of his rise to fame. Musician biopics often focus too heavily on the creation of the artist’s work, and not enough on the actual artist. Better Man gives audiences a sobering portrait of the man behind the monkey, with his songs placed in pivotal life and career moments to move the narrative forward. This works especially well if you aren’t entirely familiar with Williams’ work, because you won’t find yourself waiting to hear specific needle drops. Instead they flow organically into the story, with gorgeously choreographed musical numbers. And bo...

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