Where I Watched it: Hulu

English Audio Description?: Yes

I know when I watched the first Vacation Friends i should have assumed they would make a sequel. After all, there are three hangover movies, but then again, only one Girls Trip. Sometimes, restraint is practiced, and a sequel does not occur. I didn’t hate the first Vacation Friends. I’d put it about on par with the Hangover sequels. It had its moments.

This sequel? It’s terrible.

The film almost works. It promises to put our two odd couples back together for a vacation, but then it introduces Steve Buscemi, and i never thought that would be a bad thing. but Buscemi entering this film kills it. Dead. instead of being able to focus on the eccentricities of the titular couple, we get lost in some odd father daughter scheme to unearth treasure. It literally works on normalizing john Cena the whole film, when this was a great example of how to use him in a comedy.

There’s a great gag about him becoming a father and a helicopter parent, but those kinds of jokes disappear once they get to the resort and Buscemi shows up. That, and Lil Rel Howrey’s lead character is technically there for a job interview, another thing that bogs this film down.

Instead of having fun and letting these four loose in a location, it feels so oddly contained, and plot driven by Buscemi. It ends up sucking any fun the first film had, and really being an example of why not to make a sequel if you don’t have a reason to. A Vacation Friends Thanksgiving or Christmas could have been really fun. What if they had gone skiing, or were on a cruise to somewhere? Hell, I’d love it if Disney had allowed them to film this on property. it could be a representation of what adults do at Disney.

I suppose it’s good that the audio description was solid. My screen narrator talked to me at the wrong time, and I’m pretty sure this was Tanzi Alexander, but I missed confirmation.There is a joke revolving around what is said to be cocaine and turns out not to be. Usually cocaine is white, and the stuff they snort should not have been white. It could be a stupid thing this movie does, but nevertheless, I did question that.

I’m sure some people will love this, but Steve Buscemi deserves better, and needs to get out of comedy. He’s a fantastic dramatic actor who unfortunately met Adam Sandler. I want to see more of what he pulled off in Reservoir Dogs, Fargo, and Ghost World. What happened to that guy?

If you loved the first one, the sequel owes you an apology.

Final Grade: D+