Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising

Zac Efron and Seth Rogen return to wage war agains a neighboring sorority in the sequel to ‘Neighbors’

Neighbors-2-soroity-risingYou could be forgiven for calling “Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising” the most feminist movie of the year. Such is the state of Hollywood movies when there are so few truly female-fronted blockbusters and comedies that a movie in which teenage girls chuck their bloody tampons into Seth Rogen’s mouth could be considered progressive. But whether or not Rogen and company have made a feminist raunch-fest, they’ve made an often hilarious sequel that at least begs the question.

“I don’t even know what’s sexist,” Rogen’s character says in desperation at one point in “Neighbors 2.” Director Nicholas Stoller could be breaking boundaries or crossing serious lines, but at the end of the day he’s trying to make a funny movie. The divide between sharp political satire and what could be considered offensive and insensitive is often blurry.

Here’s the ugly truth that “Neighbors 2” brings to light: sororities on American campuses are not allowed to throw parties, but frats can. Stoller perfectly captures modern Greek life in a quick early scene, with Selena Gomez leading a flock of girls all dressed in white while wearing halos made of flowers. Their delicate golf claps say it all. Shelby, Beth and Nora (Chloe Graec Moretz, Kiersey Clemons, Beanie Feldstein) together reject this culture and decide that instead of rushing a sorority where they can’t smoke weed and where frat houses literally have “giant arrows pointing upstairs to fuck us,” they’ll start their own sorority, right next door to Mac and Kelly Radner (Rogen and Rose Byrne).

Time and again the movie reminds us that if a man were doing the crazy, vulgar, potty and drug humor that happens here, no one would bat an eye. To be fair, “Neighbors 2” may be pushing its luck; “Bridesmaids” never had to tell the audience how forward thinking it was to have women acting filthy. But Stoller is smart enough to wink at the audience in that, like in the original “Neighbors,” both the Radners and the college kids next door are man-sized children not nearly as mature as they pretend to be.

“Neighbors” was a riot because it flipped the script of what a crazy frat bro could look like in creative ways, and the sequel has more of the same. Zac Efron returns to continue spending the bulk of his time shirtless, even briefly turning into Magic Mike, but at the same time he and his brothers will pull out a ukulele and sing Jason Mraz during a gay wedding proposal. This movie could arguably be as queer as it is feminist.

What’s new has all to do with the girls. They dress like Minions as a form of hazing. They watch “The Fault in Our Stars” all together in their pajamas. They dress up like feminist icons Oprah and First Lady Hillary Clinton, Senator Hillary Clinton, and future President Hillary Clinton. Five dudes may have written the screenplay, but it feels like comedy for women, not just gross-out comedy performed by women.

“Neighbors 2” doesn’t gel quite as well as the original, but it has equal doses of Rogen and Byrne’s dopey chemistry, not to mention some impressively funny cinematic style. Stoller can stage a pretty solid pratfall, and there’s one hilarious sequence where Rogen and Efron, each shirtless and jiggling, are running through a hazy orange fog as “Sabotage” plays in the background. It would be funny even if they weren’t being chased by teenage girls trying to steal back their trash bag full of weed.

So whether “Neighbors 2” is feminist is beside the point. Stoller’s having a lot of fun, and the girls will too.

3 ½ stars

Spy

Melissa McCarthy reteams with her Bridesmaids director Paul Feig for their latest spy spoof.

SPY_1SHEETPaul Feig’s “Spy” bills itself as a spy movie parody right in its title, but it veers closer to a traditional action-comedy vehicle for Melissa McCarthy than an out-and-out spoof. The elements are all there for a classic, but it lacks the tongue-in-cheek homages to cinema and zaniness of the OSS:117 movies or the sheer stupidity of even the Austin Powers movies. That said, Melissa McCarthy might be a shoo-in for the next James Bond once Daniel Craig steps aside.

Feig starts to reinvent the spy genre by imagining the other side of James Bond’s innate talents. Bradley Fine (Jude Law, donning a convincing American accent against expectations) is the suave CIA operative leading a sting on a Russian terrorist wielding a nuke. But he only manages to get so far because of who is speaking in his ear, Susan Cooper (McCarthy). Susan is Chloe O’Brien if she was stuck in Michael Scott’s office, where even at the CIA there are rats pooping through the ceiling and co-workers having loud birthday parties in the break room while Fine faces life and death stakes.

The Russian agent’s daughter Rayna (Rose Byrne) takes possession of the nuke, murders Fine and reveals she knows the identity of every other in-the-field CIA agent. Feeling responsible for his death, Cooper volunteers herself to track Rayna and intercept the nuke in her possession, with the hope she can remain anonymous.

It’s maybe more plot exposition than a spoof like this actually needs, but Feig quickly gets to the juicy spectacle of seeing McCarthy act. Some of her roles, even her breakout role in Feig’s “Bridesmaids”, have seen her go broad, vulgar and aggressive to a fault. But in “Spy” she plays the chipper and naïve Midwesterner that gives McCarthy her star power off screen. It’s that much more of a shock when she flips a switch and effortlessly hurls insults about people looking like a bag of dicks or dead hookers.

As Genevieve Koski put in her Dissolve review, it’s more than “fat lady go boom” jokes as the trailers have made it out to be. But Feig still offers up a bad mix of lazy stereotypes of slimy, Italian misogynists as well as gags simply at the expense of McCarthy’s ludicrous disguises.

As with many of these films, it’s the supporting cast that does all the heavy lifting. Rose Byrne continues to be a standout, earning the line of the movie when she flatly declares at one of Susan’s worse puns, “What a stupid fucking retarded toast.” Jason Statham as a rival agent arguably gives his most intense performance to date, endlessly one-upping himself with increasingly ridiculous secret agent feats he can’t seem to actually perform. And British comic Miranda Hart is poised as the breakout, a goofy looking best-friend type with about a foot on Rebel Wilson but all of her awkward charm.

“Bridesmaids” opened doors for actresses like McCarthy and Byrne to do just about anything, including make a goofy spy movie previously reserved for men. But then “Spy” isn’t exactly “Bridesmaids”, and Feig might’ve just gotten more mileage out of “Bridesmaids 2”.

3 stars

Neighbors

“Neighbors” allows Seth Rogen and Zac Efron to be both snobs and slobs and gives Rose Byrne a great female comedic role.

The millennial generation is so maturing beyond their age that even their college comedies are about old people. “Neighbors” appeals to the generation that knows they have to grow up but isn’t quite sure how. And although it manages to out-raunch “Animal House” et. al., it feels mature, positive and enthusiastic about the future.

Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne have wonderful chemistry as new parents Mac and Kelly Radner. The movie opens with Mac literally narrating his excitement at having spontaneous sex with his wife in the middle of the day, only to be foiled by their precious baby daughter Stella smiling at them from across the room. This failed attempt perfectly echoes their dynamic, one in which they eagerly try to be great parents and fun, friendly people to their friends and neighbors but end up embarrassing and tiring themselves out at just how hard they try.

Rogen and Byrne are constantly talking over one another in sunny platitudes. Even when they’re swearing and upset they seem incapable of harm, and there’s a great moment when Mac says he’s going to buy a gun and end the life of his neighbors that is so far removed from their cheery demeanor that its almost adorably hilarious.

Mac and Kelly end up directing that anger at their new next door neighbors, the Delta Psi Fraternity and their ring leaders, frat President Teddy (Zac Efron) and VP Pete (Dave Franco). The guys are predictably loud and disturbing to their baby, but Teddy and the frat declare war when Mac breaks a promise Mac made at the Frat’s house warming party: “If we’re too loud, call us before you call the cops.” Continue reading “Neighbors”

X-Men: First Class

The X-Men are a treasure trove of possibilities. Any superpower you wish you had, one of them has it, thus their immense popularity and enduring capability of this franchise. “X-Men: First Class” is the fifth installment, and fans of the films are very familiar with the names, histories and mutations of every one of them to the point that even Charles Darwin would lose track. So I would expect no less from Marvel than to exploit every miniscule detail as a way of reminding us how respectful they are of their fans and their millions of dollars in revenue.

“X-Men: First Class” is a carefully constructed film that takes no chances in contradicting the franchise that has carried it to this point. If there is a character, mutation, plot point, building, vehicle or costume that was not completely explained in the original three films or the Wolverine prequel, it is here. It is Marvel’s way of ensuring there will be at least a sixth installment, and God knows how many more.

The difference is that director Matthew Vaughn (“Kick-Ass”) is given mild liberties to not take these details strictly seriously. For instance, it has long been a question of why in Bryan Singer’s two films we see little of the classic costume designs the way Stan Lee drew them in the original comic book series. Surely Vaughn is forced to answer the reason behind Lee’s kitschy ‘60s style, but he’s allowed to do so by making his film a psychedelic period piece. Set pieces, dialogue and women’s clothing choices are rightfully emblematic of a comic series that began as campy fun, and split screen montages are goofy departures from a film otherwise focused on the dourness in the Holocaust and Cuban Missile Crisis. Continue reading “X-Men: First Class”

Bridesmaids

Kristen Wiig is the funniest woman in the movies today, and one of the best character actors too. Such has long been the position of a number of critics, and her breakout comedy “Bridesmaids,” which she co-wrote, definitively proves it.

Wiig is a real trooper. She simply knows how to be funny and make anyone laugh, not just women. Her film, and yes, this is her film even though Judd Apatow produced it, knows how to be goofy, silly, smart, stupid, raunchy, vulgar and even heartfelt. It finds the perfect middle ground between bad chick flick and offensive bromance.

What “Bridesmaids” is not is “Sex and the City” at a wedding. Wiig’s Annie is a kind-hearted woman with a protective instinct and a competitive edge, especially when it comes to her childhood best friend Lillian (Maya Rudolph). She differs from the bitchy and gossiping foursome on HBO’s hit show with a disdain for men, other women and children. She just shows an inherently believable female instinct to preserve her friendship in an awkward, yet civil manner. Continue reading “Bridesmaids”