User reviews

The first Vacation Friends was a surprisingly hilarious fun blast full of actual laugh out loud moments, and I had rated that one an 8/10. So considering it's the same director, writers and cast, I expected it to be pretty close to as good as the first one, but wow what a let down this was.

The story was cliched, predictable, sappy, convoluted nonsense, and it was all over the place. The directing was sub par and underwhelming. And as much as Cena tried his best with the terrible material he had this time around, even he nor the addition of Steve Buscemi couldn't save this mess. Unlike the first film, there were zero actual laugh out loud moments, there were barely any smiles, but mostly eyerolls and cringe at pretty much every funny part being a huge miss and mostly infantile humor. As much as I'm a fan of Cena and Buscemi, I just can't recommend wasting 105 minutes watching this mess just to see them.

I genuinely enjoyed the 2021 movie "Vacation Friends", and when I had the chance to sit down and watch the 2023 sequel "Vacation Friends 2", of course I did so.

However, I have to say that writer and director Clay Tarver delivered a lukewarm sequel here. The script and storyline for "Vacation Friends 2" was generally devoid of the funny and outrageous situations that were in the first movie. And the script felt rather mundane and bland, and I was hardly brought to laughter throughout the course of the 106 minutes that the movie ran for.

The acting performances in "Vacation Friends 2" were fair, and it was nice to see John Cena, Lil Rel Howery, Meredith Hagner and Yvonne Orji return to reprise their characters in the sequel. It was really good to see Steve Buscemi in the movie, though his talent was just not utilized to any great accomplishment in "Vacation Friends 2", which was a shame. And it was certainly also nice to see Carlos Santos on the cast list.

So I found "Vacation Friends 2" to be somewhat of a disappointing viewing experience. And it is hardly a movie that I will be picking up a second time, simply because it was lacking the comedy appeal of the 2021 movie.

My rating of "Vacation Friends 2" lands on a very bland five out of ten stars.

One thing I can say about Vacation Friends is that it's so funny it made me laugh a lot. In my opinion, this franchise brings out the best elements of comedy movies, something I really miss in today's films of this genre.

One of the main point of the movie is the cast, that is so great and on this movie the group of friends is back and makes us laugh a lot, but to be honest, I think the first movie was better. However, it's fair to say that this movie keeps its essence and still made us laugh a lot - and as a film of this genre, it doesn't need a deep backstory. It simply focuses on making you laugh, making it a great choice to sit back and enjoy!

Vacation Friends was such a great movie. I laughed until I cried it was so funny. Every character served a purpose and the jokes kept coming non stop and you couldn't help but laugh and get invested in the 4 lead characters.

None of that happens here. Vacation Friends 2 manages to make all 4 lead characters you previously liked very unlikable. Then they add Steve Buscemi who manages to be the worst character in the movie.

There were a few laughs in the film, most of which were in the trailer. They built so long to the ashes joke but since the punchline was in the trailer the whole sequence fell flat for me.

Normally I'd call this type of sequel a cash cow but since it's a direct to Hulu film I can't even call it that. I'm not sure why this was made but it definitely should have stayed unmade.

If you want to laugh with these characters re watch the original and if you want to feel let down and disappointed that's the only way I'd recommend this sequel. I gave it 5-10 cause of my love for the characters from the first movie and the movie itself was average and could have been worse.

Vacation Friends 2 is a 20th Century Studios movie on Hulu that brings back the original cast from the first movie to another friends trip. This time they end up in Mexico but the scenery is truly Hawaii not Mexico. Lil Rel Howery and Yvonne Orji met up John Cena and Meredith Hagner who bring along their new born son. Carlos Santos acts as their babysitter and Ronny Cheng as the hotel manager. Steve Buscemi acts as Meredith's father who stirs trouble by stealing money from the local thugs. I don't know why they bothered with this sequel. It was not funny, very predictable and very unworthy. Don't bother with this nonsense.

Streamers, here's the thing... we've been watching way too many movies to write reviews all the time. Sorry for the hiatus as we decided to take a vacation; and then, here comes the friends we didn't ask for in Vacation Friends 2. If you remember, Vacation Friends came out about 2 years ago and starred Lil Rel Howery, Yvonne Orji, John Cena and others. Well, it's the end of the summer and the friends have taken another vacation but this time on purpose and in the "Caribbean". Let's see what hijinks they get into this time.

Let's start with the good and move to the mediocre. First, the movie was filmed in Hawaii, and I hope we all support Hawaii to help them rebuild from the fires. Next, the cast works well together, but the writing unfortunately wasn't as adventurous as the vacation. John Cena is a comedic genius, but they barely used his potential. Lil Rel and Yvonne Orji while still honestly fledging comedians have more in them than just this whining comedy. Sidenote: they could've casted Kevin Hart in this role, and it probably would've worked better with his whining. Anyway, Meredith Hagner was really the only character that had the same spirit as the first movie but all in all it became just the same. The movie felt like the same movie, jokes, etc. Except it lacked the life and surprise of the first movie. There's a chuckle here and there but that's a fall off from the first movie. Shoot, you might as well just watch the first movie all over again instead of watching this one because you'll laugh more. Vacation Friends 2 is an average movie for streaming services but with the cast they had you'd expect more, especially with Steve Buscemi. I mean he's a classic! While his character was fine, we should have gotten more. Don't even get me started on how useless Carlos Santos is until the end. I am watching you, Chencho!

Long story short, Vacation Friends 2 is a tamed down version of Vacation Friends. Unfortunately, that's actually not a good thing since the wild, raunchy, random behavior made the first movie work so well. Yes, there's a "baby" in this movie but the friends should've taken it up a notch on vacation. Instead, we're given a handful of popcorn to eat during this streaming Hulu flick.

"Vacation Friends 2" is a Comedy - Action movie and the sequel of "Vacation Friends", in which we watch the two couples reunite and go for vacation in Caribbean.

Since I had already watched and enjoyed the first movie, I had high expectations from this sequel. Unfortunately, it was not as good as I expected and I did not enjoy it as much as the first movie. The interpretations of John Cena who played as Ron, Lil Rel Howery who played as Marcus, Meredith Hagner who played as Kyla and Yvonne Orji who played as Emily were good but a bit predictable if you have already watched the first movie. A nice surprise was Steve Buscemi who played as Reese Hackford and he was amazing. All in all, I have to say that "Vacation Friends 2" is a nice comedy movie but I advise you to lower your standards if you loved the first movie.

The first film wasn't a masterpiece, but it had a certain charm and a John Cena who stole every scene. In this sequel, the formula is repeated with the same jokes, the same gags, and the addition of Steve Buscemi. On paper, it sounded like a great idea, but in practice it adds very little that feels fresh.

The chemistry between the leads is still there, especially in the scenes shared by Cena and Lil Rel Howery, but the story feels much more forced. Where the first movie had a lighter rhythm, here everything drags with repetitive situations that make the humor lose its punch far too quickly.

The script leans on the same tricks without finding a new way to surprise. It's like hearing a joke that made you laugh once but falls flat when repeated. The attempt to push things further only backfires: what should be outrageous often ends up exhausting.

Still, there are a few moments that manage to get some laughs, and the cast's energy keeps it from being a complete mess. The problem is that the original's charm has faded, and what's left is an unnecessary sequel that never justifies its existence.

Vacation Friends 2 entertains here and there, but it quickly becomes tedious and proves once again what happens with this kind of comedy: when you repeat the same formula without adding anything new, the result is weaker than the original.

5.5/10 (not worth the follow-up)

There's more of a story to the second film, but it still falls short of any real sustenance. It entertains fine enough, but it's barely worth a first watch let alone a second watch. It doesn't do the first film justice. I like John Cena again, but he can't carry an entire film. At times I like Lil Rel Howery and his performance, but I find him more annoying than anything. Same goes for Meredith Hagner. The CGI for the film isn't the worst I've ever seen, but it's still atrocious. For me there's no real saving grace. A couple of the subplots were more entertaining than the main plot and it's a little unfortunate when that happens. Overall, I'd say you can skip this one. Stick with the first film at most and you'll be fine.

That's all for now. Thank you for taking the time to read my review. Until next time.... Enjoy the show!